Long live the queen
by AlexRoseRusso
Summary: Sequel to Too late. It has been four years since we left Rose to her new life. Now the queen is dead, turning everyone's life upside down. It is all against all and only one ends out on top. While the old ways were abadoned a long time ago, it isn't unusual for people to drop dead during elections. Meanwhile one question remains: What happened to the queen? Prepare for war.
1. The queen is dead

**VA isn't mine, and the charecters aren't either.**

 **Rpov**

They tell you, you can't have it all. They are lying.

They also tell you your first love will always have a place in your heart. They are lying.

My first love was Dimitri Belikov. He was badass, handsome and well a god. School girl me was about to swoon at even the slightest chance of being close to him. Early twenties me was so hooked on him she couldn't possibly hate him even with all the hurt he caused her. Now, at twenty-six, I wasn't impressed. Dimitri had aged well, I'd give him that, from the few times I had seen him anyway. At thirty-three he was still a hunk. His personality? Not so much. The god I fell in love with was gone. Dimitri was now a loyal lapdog to his charge, Christian Ozera. I would have expected him to want to make a name for himself at one point, god knows I gave him plenty of opportunities, but Dimitri seemed hellbent on not leaving his charges side. It was a pity, really, and it made me a tiny bit sick to think about.

I hadn't talked to Christian since his aunt tried to kill me. It seem to be an unspoken period to our friendship. Of course that made it slightly difficult to see Lissa, one would think, but I found that every time I came to visit he was very conveniently out of town. How the man who shot his aunt somehow still made it on the friend list I wasn't sure but whatever.

Lissa and I was close as ever, on the other hand. We talked everyday on the phone and had sleepovers all the time. I expected that to pass as we got older but somehow, girl-time was even more essential now, especially when I was traveling so much. It made it a bliss to come home every time. Well her and Rufus both.

Rufus lost his wife last year to cancer. It was a terrible time for him, and sadly I hadn't been able to be there for him. Since then he had a relapse into his bachelor ways. To be frank he was a dog these days. Drinking, hitting on women, partying all the time. I thought men his age went to bed at like eight but boy was I wrong. I felt bad, maybe if I had been there to help him it wouldn't be like this but every time I tried to talk to him about it he turned on me and accused me of trying to pull him down, so I eventually just let him do his thing. It was fun to be a part of however. The alcohol and the parties, but honestly? It was a young man's game and I was worried about him.

Talking about young men, Adrian was my rock these days. It was two years ago in Wien over a bottle of wine that we had decided to engage in a professional relationship. I had more places to be than I could catch planes, and then as if sent from heaven came Adrian. Straight out of an Ivy league with his second degree in, god bless him, public relations. So now Adrian was my spin doctor and partner. He took care of everything I couldn't and kept us on top of everything. And at night he kept on top, if you know what I mean.

As for my project Jesse had turned out to be a valuable ally and he had made everything so much easier. He found his call making education universal and I honestly never thought I'd say this but Jesse was like a real life superhero, making dreams come true. He ended up making amends to Mia and they married six months ago, so now Mia and I got to see each other all the time as I often worked with Jesse. Mia was the only person who knew Adrian and I was more than just partners and for now we liked it that way. I wasn't sure we were going to be a forever kind of thing and we liked our privacy.

As I said. They tell you, you can't have it all. They are lying.

And that was my life, until one day Rufus called: Tatiana had passed away in her chambers. The exact cause of death was uncertain, but he was guessing it might be a stroke. I felt it as a blow to the chest. Tatianna had been an important support to my work. A new monarch might put and end to it all, hell I might even be thrown off the council. We discussed tactics and I promised to return to court as fast as I could then we hang up. I looked at Adrian who was also on the phone with someone. He looked shaken and I could only guess he heard as well. He said goodbye to his mother and hang up then looked at me.

"That was my mother…" he started and I saw the tears in his eyes.

"I am so sorry Adrian." I told him and fell to my knees in front of him grasping his knees. He started sobbing hard and clung to me, taking me in his embrace as he broke down in tears. I felt a little sad myself, Tatiana had been a friend in the end and I had hoped to serve her as my queen for many years to come. I don't know how long we sat there but it felt like forever before we finally let go of one another and started packing. We were going back to court, immediately. I texted my assistant Amy and let her know to cancel all of my meetings.

"Are you okay?" I asked Adrian as I sat beside him on the plane and took his hand. He looked at me blankly and I saw how exhausted he was from the breakdown.

"No, but I will be." He promised and gave my hand a squeeze. I smiled at him and then picked up the fly magazine as the plane took off. We hadn't been ready for this but we had to manage anyway.


	2. The secrets we keep

**VA isn't mine, and the charecters aren't either.**

 **Just shortly, before the chapter: I promised myself I wouldn't react on this but I found myself forced to. Someone left a very rude review on this. Now obviously they meant it for someone else, as the details are off, but that doesn't change the fact that they shouldn't be writing such messages for anyone! So this is actually just a short reminder for everyone that there is a person, reading the things we hit send on, so lets be nice to one another, okay? Please and thank you, now enjoy**

 **Rpov**

"Adrian! Oh, honey it is so good to see you!" Daniella exclaimed and pulled Adrian in for a hug. She looked at me over his shoulder. "And you as well Rose, how was your trip?" She asked and let go of Adrian to greet me.

"Fine, it was a long trip from London, but we took a nap and all is well. How are you holding up?" I asked her and put down my suitcase, so I could give her a hug. I had a private bodyguard and Adrian had an appointed guardian, but I didn't want to bother them with our luggage, we could carry that ourselves.

"As well as we can. Nathan is a bit shaken, but that was to be expected." She explained and brushed an escaped lock of hair back from her face. Never, and I mean never, had I seen Daniella without perfect hair. Tatiana's death must truly have been a tragedy for the Ivashkov family.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked without really knowing what I would do if she asked. I had cleared my calendar, sure, but I still had tons of work to do while I wasn't available for meetings.

"No honey, I think we can manage. Should I set up a separate room for you here?" She asked kindly, but I turned down the offer.

"No, I will be staying with Lissa, but thank you for the offer." I informed her and turned to Adrian again. "Are you sure that you will be alright on your own?" He nodded while he still looked a bit lost to me.

"Yeah, go get some rest, god knows you need it. I am not alone." He tried to comfort me but we both knew he pretty much was. Nathan wasn't known for his empathy and Daniella, although a lovely woman, was busy trying to fix everything. They were supposed to be a family in grief, yet everyone was still doing their own thing. I hugged him and gave him a peak on the cheek, not wanting to let too much on in front of Daniella. She would be okay with it, I knew that, but again: We were keeping our privacy.

He kept me in his embrace for a lingering moment while inhaling my scent then let go, not wanting to show to much affection in front of his mother.

"Go." Was all he said when he let me go and I knew he wanted to add 'before I won't let you.'

I bid them both goodnight and took my suitcase and left the Ivashkov family home, bodyguard in tow. I smiled a little to myself as I walked down the small lightened paths trough the garden. It was such a long time since I had been back here. Although I was a council member, I spent most of my time away from court, only coming in for votes and to get knew proposals allowed. The rest of the time I traveled the world and made it all become reality. Therefor I had sold the apartment Edie hooked me up with a few years back and whenever I returned to court I would be staying with either Lissa, Rufus, the Ivashkovs or in the geust housing. It was just easier that way.

We arrived to the Dragomir-Ozera household. It was the old townhouse that Christian had inherited. Lissa had done a great job at redecorating it, but I think Christian still had his oasis. I hadn't been there since the first time. Sighing deeply, I cherished the small moment of peace before I knocked on the door. It only took a minute for someone to open it. I feared for a small moment it would be either Christian or Dimitri, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Lissa's smiling face on the other side of the door.

"Rose!" She exclaimed and threw herself at me.

"Lissa! Oh my god, it is so good to see you." I basically crushed her to me. To my surprise she started sobbing. "Liss? Liss are you okay?" I asked confused as I couldn't see her face. She pulled back and nodded while wiping her tears.

"I have something to tell you. You have to come in." she said and pulled me inside, suitcase, bodyguard and all. I told Eylem, my bodyguard, to stay out of ear-reach and surprisingly he agreed. Lissa's female guardian, Aliysa, was on duty and stayed outside as well. I sat Lissa down on the couch in her living room and looked at her worried.

"What is it Liss?" I asked her, and she bit her lip.

"I'll start at the beginning." She decided and took my hand. "Tatiana died two days ago, you know. I saw her, just hours before and… I don't know if she knew she was going to die, but the timing just seems so… odd. She asked me to run for Queen. She didn't say now, she said that when she eventually stepped down she would want me to take over. I didn't think much of it, it was so far away but now. Now she is dead!" She wailed, and I pulled her to my chest and ran my fingers through her silky hair. "There is more." She sobbed and I nodded knowing that already but wanting her to tell me. I tried not spying too much so it was a surprise when she told me. "I am pregnant!" She exclaimed, and I froze for a moment before I resumed my motions, stroking her hair.

"How far?" I asked and she pulled back to look at me.

"Just a few weeks. I found out the same day she died." I needed a moment to process all of it.

"Is it Christian's?" I asked, needing to be sure. She nodded, and I felt a bit relived that at least it wasn't a strangers. "Does he know?" Her face twisted in a guilty grimace, and she started sobbing again. "It is okay Liss, it is okay. I am sure he will be trilled." I comforted, but she was devastated.

"You don't get it Rose. I can't be queen if I am pregnant and unmarried, and I don't want him to marry me because I am pregnant. I don't want to give it up, but I can't not run for queen either, it might be my only chance." I knew what she meant, this might be the only election in our time, as monarchs liked to keep the chair till they kicked the boot.

"It will be okay Liss, one problem at a time. You can totally run for queen, you are only a few weeks. No one will know before a few months and everything might be different then. Hell, I will marry you if I have to." I told her sincerely and she laughed.

"I think that might only make things worse but thank you anyway." She said and I smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

"Anytime." She sniffled a little at looked at me with red rimmed eyes.

"So that was me. How have you been?" She asked, and I laughed.

"Ah same old same old. Nothing to tell really." She smiled, satisfied with my answer and stood up.

"Lets, get you settled in the guestroom. Then we can put on a movie and order pizza." She said and opened the door to our waiting guards. Eylem had thoughtfully put our things away already, having been here before.

"I put your suitcase in the master bedroom, as usual miss Rose." He informed me coming down the stairs. I looked at Lissa to ask permission. We usually slept in the same bed, but perhaps Christian was home and she wanted to be with him.

"Yes of course. Will you be staying with us Eylem?" She asked thoughtfully. Eylem usually stayed with us, but it happened that he was elsewhere as court was considered a safe place. He fixed a tight smile.

"Yes, Princess, and Berk as well once he gets here." He answered politely. Lissa furrowed her brows.

"Berk as well? You know I have two gaurdians right?" She asked towards me and I faked a relaxed smile.

"I know Liss, but it is election time and one can never be too careful. I figured you would have room?" I asked, pulling a little at the end in a silent request. She still looked a bit thrown off but she shook it off and smiled.

"Of course! You are always welcome. What kind of pizza would you like?" She asked and he smiled at her thoughtfulness.

"Peperoni, please princess." She smiled and took the folder from the kitchen. It was clearly often used, and I got the wipe that perhaps Christian didn't cook as much as he used to. I smiled and slid down on a chair in the dining room, watching her make the order while I finally felt a little home.

 **Second chapter huh? Okay so I thought I might give you a heads up where this is headed. Obviously lots of fluff with Rose and Adrian, but Dimitri isn't out of the picture yet.**


	3. The lovers left behind

**VA isn't mine, and the characters aren't either.**

 **Okay so I know I have bitched about the guest comments. I still think they are mostly trash, but I am having a hard time disconnecting them (every time I manage to do it, it switches back.) _But_ , someone recommended Grammarly and I love it! So thank you, for that, it has made my life so much easier. **

**Rpov**

It was weird being back at court. Usually, I wouldn't stay very long, but this time it would be for a few weeks. I had left Lissa to get her beauty sleep this morning and grabbed my gym bag before sunset. I had Berk with me and let Eylem sleep a little longer. He had had a long shift yesterday, and it only seemed fair that he got to sleep in. I changed into my workout gear and running shoes and went out to the tracks. It was early in the vampire morning, and I had expected to have it all to myself, but there were a few other guardians hanging around, doing their own routines. I had forgotten that some of them worked night shifts and would hit the gym after a long night at work. I finished up my laps outside with Berk and went inside to lift some weights. I almost fell over one of the yoga mats when I spotted Dimitri on the racks, using them to lift himself up, one pole at a time. I wanted to flee into the other room but he had already spotted me.

"Councilmember Hathaway. It has been a long time since I last saw you." The sound of his deep voice rolled over me in soft waves. Now, that he had seen me I couldn't avoid him, so I decided to go over and talk to him instead.

"Well, you know how it is, busy, busy. How have you been guardian Belikov?" I asked politely to which he smirked.

"Busy, busy. Yes, I have heard that you like it that way. There isn't much around this part of the world, tho. You know how it is." He commented sounding a tiny bit snarky and I got the impression that he was mocking me but decided not to dwell on it. It was probably just his own bitterness shining through for how things had turned out between us.

"Yes, I do. You must like it that way, right? Otherwise, one would think that you would have gotten out of here a long time ago. It is not like there haven't been opportunities." I commented, and he kept smirking at me, although I could see in his eyes that I had struck a nerve with that last comment.

"Bending over backward trying to adapt to others' conservative principles isn't my thing. But it does seem like you are having fun with it. Not the lane I would have pictured you in, but as long as you are happy." He threw back at me but I just smiled at him sweetly, not letting him get a rise out of me. So, that was what he thought of me, was it? That I was simply pleasing Tatiana like a well-behaved puppy? That bastard!

"I like to make things happen, yes. It does feel good to you know, actually do something with my life, other than run around in another person's tracks and cleaning up their mess. But as long as you are happy." I threw back, dragging out the last part. He knew what I meant: Christian hadn't exactly been on his best behavior since what had happened with Tasha.

"Well, you know me. I like helping people who can't help themselves." He threw back and I felt my smile grow wider.

"Yes, I also know what else you like to do with them." He glared at me but his lips kept smiling. I kept my own smile on as well and felt a smirk come creeping when he didn't have a quick comeback.

"Anyways, Guardian Belikov, it was nice seeing you," I said and then turned around and headed for the exit. His voice came booming at me from behind yet again.

"You really should take better care of yourself, Roza." I whipped around and put my hands on my hips.

"Excuse me!?" He smirked.

"I trained that butt, I know how it looks when it is in shape, and trust me. It isn't." I gaped at him. That was so out of character I couldn't even believe he had said it.

"Guardian Belikov!" I chastised but he just kept that stupid smirk then he got up and towered over me. I could sense Berk tense behind me, but I knew he wouldn't interfere unless I asked for help.

"I could help you with that though, and a whole lot more. Rumor has it that you arrived yesterday with three guards. That is a little much for a trained guardian don't you think?" He asked and I felt the insult sting. He was implying that I couldn't take care of myself, and worse, that I was afraid. I was, but I wasn't about to let him know that.

"Well one can never be too careful, can they? People do disappear during election times and I have heard court is filled with all kinds of freaks and outcasts lately. But for the record, I will let you know one of those guards works for my PR consultant." I purred, and his smirk fell while his eyes narrowed.

"PR consultant." He tasted on the word. "If that a new, fancy word for gigolo?" I gasped, and he smirked again. "I mean it, Roza, if you need me to kick you back into shape I will be happy to." He told me as if he was doing me a great favor.

"And you think insulting me will make me say yes?" I asked offended and stared right up at him. He wasn't going to make me feel intimidated just because he hovered almost two feet above me.

"I was hoping it might. Look, let us be honest, you know that you need me. I am offering, Roza, think about it." I scoffed.

"If I did need it, I would have one of my bodyguards help me, not some guardian who used to be a big name." I spat, and he apparently took that as a challenge because suddenly I had my back against the wall and my hands held above me. Berk was about to jump in but called him off. I wanted to take care of this myself. I one swift movement I raised both legs and kicked him in the stomach. He flew back a few feet but unfortunately didn't let go of my hands resulting in the both of us falling to the ground. I used one leg to flip him over and the twist luckily made him let go. I was on my feet as fast as I could, breathing heavily, and glaring at him as he also got back in his feet.

"Okay, I'll admit, that was impressive." He praised, and I smirked.

"I am impressive. Tomorrow at five?" I asked him, and he looked at me surprised but smiled and nodded.

"Tomorrow at five." He agreed and I smiled satisfied as I turned on my heel and headed for the locker-room. I think I even saw Berk smirk a little on my behalf.


	4. The forgotten understandment

**VA isn't mine, and the characters aren't either.**

 **Hi guys! I know that I have been gone for a while - I am sorry about that. I have been working on another project and I am happy to announce that I have just had my first short story published! I am so proud! It is in Danish, so I cannot share it with you, plus, you know, legal stuff. I wanted to share the news! Anyways, I hope you will enjoy this chapter.**

 **Rpov**

I waited impatiently outside until the door opened, "We need to talk," I told him as I brushed past him.

"Well hello, Rose, nice to see you too." He snarked sarcastically and closed the door behind us. "Dimitri is off duty." He informed, thinking that was the cause of my visit. I just nodded and took off my coat.

"I know, I came to talk to you." He raised both eyebrows.

"Me? Why? I didn't think that we had anything to talk about anymore." He noted sharply and I felt the urge to tell him to shut up but I didn't say it out loud. I did not come to argue.

"No, I didn't think so either but now we have." He clapped both hands together and pretended to feel honored.

"Well, if a council member says so, then please, sit down. Can I get you anything?" He asked, pretending he wanted to be a good host.

I glared at him, "A little less attitude would be nice." I bit, and his fake smile disappeared and turned into a scowl.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?" He asked, finally sensing this was a serious matter.

"It is about Lissa." That simple statement made his smile return.

"Ahh, yes, it always is. Well, my girlfriend and I are very happy, thank you for your concern. You can leave now." He placed his hand on my shoulder as if to guide me outside, but I stood my ground.

"Christian!" I hissed angrily and he seemed to sober up.

"Wauw, you really mean it. Alright then, Rose, please tell me, what is this about?" I huffed feeling annoyed. Now I didn't want to tell him at all! However, I knew that for Lissa's sake I had to.

"Do you love her?" I asked bluntly, not feeling up to beat around the bush.

"Of course." He answered honestly, and he seemed to get a little nervous.

"Do you want to marry her?" I asked him again and he furrowed his brows in confusion but nodded anyway.

"Yes, someday, in a few years. Rose, where is all this coming from?" I took a deep breath, trying to figure out a way to get my point across without spilling Lissa's secret.

"Now would be a good time to propose." He frowned.

"Now? Why Rose? What is happening?" I shook my head and closed my eyes for a moment to collect my thoughts, then I locked my eyes on his.

"Do you trust me?" He hesitated. "Christian, I share a psychic bond with your girlfriend, moreover I am her best friend. She needs you to propose to her and she needs to think that it was your idea. Either you do it, or I am going to have to kick your ass. As much as I think that would help release the tension between us, I honestly don't think it is the best solution to this problem." He took a moment then he nodded seeming to understand that I wasn't kidding. It was a shame, I would have loved to kick his ass.

"Okay. I know you love her. So, I am going to take your word for it. How am I going do it?" He asked and I felt slightly taken aback that he wanted advice from me.

"She will be running for queen. They are already planning the tryouts, so it needs to be done in between those. I have talked to Hans, the first tryout is in two days, and then they will have a week until the next. That is confidential by the way. You will want to propose on Friday. She will be the least stressed then and the most surprised." I told him and he looked surprised.

"Is she running for Queen?" He asked and I nodded.

"Another long story. Now focus, Christian, Friday!" I hissed and he sobered up again and nodded.

"Friday. That gives us four days to prepare a proposal. Good on the tight deadlines there, Rose, it would have been nice with a heads up." He snarked and I put on my best poker face.

"This is the heads up. Alternatively, I was going to send her a proposal in your name and hope for the best." I told him honestly. The thought had crossed my mind but I wanted for her proposal to be a real one. Who cared if I interfered a little in the planning of it? Christian loved her, he just needed a gentle push.

"I don't have a ring." He mused and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. The ring was the smallest problem! "Will you help me pick one out?" He asked out of nowhere and now I was surprised.

"Really? You want my help?" He shrugged.

"As you so nicely pointed out: You are her best friend. No one knows her better than you do, not even I. So yeah, I want you to help me find the perfect ring." I couldn't help but smile a little. Sparky had a heart, who knew?

"I would love to. We can do it during the first tryout? Then you don't have to come up with a cover story." He nodded and opened the door for me. I was just about to leave when I heard him ask:

"Rose?" I looked at him over my shoulder.

"Yeah?" He looked uncomfortable. Whatever he was about to say was causing him hardship.

"I… Thank you, for helping. I know that I am not your favorite person and that you would rather see Lissa with someone else. So, thank you for doing this." That was surprising. I sent him a smile.

"Quiet the opposite, Christian. I don't think anyone could be better for her than you." He smiled a little at that part and I left without further exchange. Outside the guesthouse, to which Christian had fleed while I stayed with Lissa, I looked around. It was odd, in the past few years I had been in and out of court multiple times, but I had never had the time to look around. Of course, it was the royal court, and nothing ever changed much but there were the little things like the pick of flowers or maybe someone had moved a statue to the other end of the park. It reminded me of how little I had been around to notice such things.

It was late, almost in the middle of the moroi night and I wasn't sure when I knocked on his door, that Christian would have even opened the door. The day had been beyond hectic. I had never witnessed an election before and I hadn't understood the full meaning concept, but after today, I was in ave. I had gone to see Rufus as early as I could after hitting the gym. He had made time, but there were already a bunch of advisors fighting for his attention. Rufus was an obvious choice to replace Tatiana and he wasn't about to let the opportunity slide past him. After all, this was the last shot he had at getting the throne. He had given me a brief recap: Tatiana had been found dead in her chambers, the details surrounding her death still hadn't been released. The council had been frozen, meaning no one could leave or join until the elections were over. If a member dropped dead, then an on beforehand chosen substitute would take their place. Meaning I had to go see Hans and point out my substitute, giving me an excuse to see the head of security. The official ceremony hadn't been held yet, but it was expected that most of the council would want to take part in the election. I, of course, was excluded, thanks to the law that stated it was exclusively moroi from royal families that could take part. However, this was good news for me, as now I would keep my seat at least until a new monarch decided to remove me. Or I too dropped dead. That was a possibility as well. I had left Rufus in the care of his advisors and a spin-doctor and went to find Hans instead.

Hans had been less delighted to see me than Rufus.

"I can't tell you anything Council member Hathaway." Had he barked and I tried to change approach.

"Please Hans, I told you to call me Rose plenty of times. I am not running, I just want to know how long this thing is going to last." Hans wasn't going to move or bend.

"I can't reveal any confidential information. Not even to you." He stated and I leaned forward with a smile on my face, maybe a bit seductive but what the hell: I needed answers.

"Not even when it is going to take place? Please, I have to know when I can leave court again." I asked nicely and he looked conflicted then he sighed deeply.

"This is confidential," he informed be strictly then continued, "the first tryout is in two days. Then they have a week to prepare for the next one. The last one will be held three days later and end out in the actual election. The whole thing will last 12 days, and then you can leave." I smiled and thanked him already turning towards the door, but he stopped me from leaving. "I need to talk to you as well." He told me with a grim expression. It was very unlike Hans to want to talk to me about anything so naturally, I was curious.

"Something wrong?" I asked and he nodded.

"There are two things: one, I need you here to help out with security. You have done a great job at the academies, the security is better than it has been in years, and I will need your help consulting at the events. The other thing is a little more serious: We have received some letters to your mail address here at court. They are off a disturbing nature." He told me and I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"More death threats?" I guessed and he nodded. "I have already hired extra security," I informed him but he didn't seem satisfied with my solution.

"I have upped the security around the Dragomir household. Rose, I need you to be prepared for anything. This isn't something you should take lightly." He said.

"I know. My father is on his way to court, and I will be moving in with him when he arrives. My team and I have it under control." I promised him but still, he seemed to be skeptical.

"These threats are very explicit, Rose. You won't know where the next blow comes from." I knew that. We had been surprised numerous times already.

"I appreciate your concern, Hans, but there really isn't anything more that we can do. Until the election is over this is how it will be. May we live to see the end of it." He sighed and looked at me as if he knew I was about to throw a tantrum.

"I have asked your mother to take care of your security." Yep, he was right, tantrum coming in.

"YOU WHAT?!" He held up a hand to stop me from continuing on a rant.

"She is the best, Rose, you know that." He tried to argue but he had so miscalculated if he thought that would calm me down.

"No, she is not! I am the best! You know that." I threw back at him but the man only shrugged. He shrugged!

"She has more experience and she is still an active guardian. I am sorry Rose but this is how it will be." I glared.

"Don't think I am not going to fight this." He smirked.

"Oh, I know you will, but right now, the council is frozen, and the same goes for your power. You can't do anything until the new monarch is chosen and by then, who knows?" Suddenly he turned serious again. "I hope you get to keep your seat, Rose, I do, but to keep it you have to keep your head. I am doing everything in my power to ensure your safety but you have to let me." I couldn't help but smirk.

"I am not afraid to die, Hans. I just thought it would be an utter shame for all my hard work to go to waste. If I am shot dead in the middle of the royal court, then there will be a riot. My work will live on, maybe not through me but through the people. So, I am taking my chances. Call my mother, and tell her I can handle myself." I ordered and then I stormed out. I meant what I said. I wasn't afraid to die. Not anymore. The only thing that mattered to me was the legacy I left behind.


	5. The move for power

**VA isn't mine, and the characters aren't either.**

 **Rpov**

Lissa twirled around and looked at herself in the mirror nervously.

"How do I look?" She asked for the millionth time and I wanted to tell her to relax and trust herself. She was born for this. Unfortunately, I wasn't there. Instead, it was Michela that answered her question.

"You should take off that bracelet, it doesn't match. Straighten up, and look like you deserve to be there!" She consulted. Lissa did deserve to be there. That was the thing. Evil tongues would tell her that she was too young, or that she was just a child but Lissa had the smarts and the heritage to be there. She sighed and looked at her fellow other royal while she reluctantly took off her bracelet. It was a gift that I had brought her from Paris, for our first Christmas together since my return. Michela was right though, it didn't match.

"I just wish that my father could have been here," she confessed and Michela gave her a sympatric smile and she folded her hands.

"I know sweetheart, I am sure he would have been proud." Secretly, Lissa wished that her father had been there because then he would be the one running for the throne instead, but she didn't tell Michela that. Outside she could head that people had started gathering and she knew that she would have to go out soon and be nominated to be queen. Jill had already volunteered as her sister. Adrian had promised me that he would support her as well and Christian was given, and so she knew that she would be allowed to run. Still, Lissa didn't like being the center of attention. She knew that soon she would be the talk of court and the thought scared her. People could be mean. It was one of the things that bothered her about Tatiana's request. The one thing that bothered her the most, though, was that she hadn't seen me all day. The truth was that I was waiting for her in the hall, ready to handle any challenges that she might face on her way, but she didn't know that. This morning I had sneaked out, as usual, to train with Dimitri, but I hadn't returned for breakfast like I used to. After sparing with Dimitri I had been running around like a mad woman, doing everything in my power to make her fair as smooth as possible. I had had Hans appoint two extra guardians to her just for this. I had them place metal detectors and body scans at the door to prevent any more accidents with guns involved. The guardians on duty at the door had promised they would not let in more people than there were seats for. Seats couldn't be reserved, except for the council members who had their place at the table as usual. Therefore, I had Christian and Jill turn up extra early to be sure that they were allowed entrance. Adrian was with me as always, preparing me for my own role in all of this. I was only listening to half of what he was telling me. Mentally I was with Lissa. When I sensed her presence coming closer, I went to talk to Dimitri. He was keeping guard over Christian and was stationed at the wall.

"If anything happens, then you will take Christian and get him out of here. I can get Lissa out, within seconds, but she won't follow on her own if she thinks Christian is going to be in danger." I informed him and I saw that his eyes got a special spark in them that I had missed.

"I thought that your attention would be on your own evacuation. How come you are being so protective of Princess Dragomir?" He asked and I wanted to bite at him that he knew damn well, I would die before I let anything happen to Lissa, but we were playing a game and I was not about to lose.

"I have a lot running on this. If anything happens to her all my plans go up in flames. Keep your eyes on the ball, this might get nasty." I left him with those words. I could feel his eyes on me but I didn't look back. Lissa was almost here and I wanted to be there to greet her at the entrance. I could see Eylem and my new bodyguard Wren following behind me as I walked towards the door but I tried to be unbothered. I had hired them to protect me, I reminded myself, that included following me around.

The doors were already closed to the public, and only members of the council were allowed through at this point. They seemed to have trouble keeping the path clear but eventually I saw some blond hair peak up as Lissa glided in through security. Michela had to wait outside, the room was already filled.

"Thank god you are here." She muttered to me as we meet at the door. I gave her a smile and trailed beside her towards the table at the end of the aisle.

"Ready?" I asked her and she made a nervous grimace.

"Not in the slightest. How do people do this?" I shrugged.

"You don't do anything. Three certain royals will nominate you and then you just accept the nomination. Simple." She hissed, obviously not finding it easy at all. I took her hand in mine as we walked. "Trust me." It was the best I could offer although not a lot it seemed to be enough for her. I felt her relax.

We found our seats beside each other and waited for the ceremony to begin. Rufus strolled in at the last second as usual and sat on my other side.

"Wish me luck." He whispered with a wink and I couldn't help but smile a little at his behavior.

"Break a leg." I offered instead and he smirked back at me.

"Not that I will need it," he added for himself with a smirk. I just wished that Lissa would be equally confident.


	6. The alliance of enemies

**VA isn't mine.**

RPOV

The silence was so thick you could practically feel how it was trying to suffocate you. None of us dared to utter a word as the car drove further and further away from the court. I could see Dimitri's face in the mirror but couldn't read his expression. He hadn't been informed about today's mission, I would guess. I had asked Christian to keep our plans secret. The fewer people that knew, the better. We already had way too many variables. Since we were leaving court Christian was obligated to bring Dimitri, although he would have liked more privacy. I only had one bodyguard with me, but I had been unable to provide a cover story. Needless to explain that my security team hadn't been happy when they heard of our expedition. I was only allowed a short 3-hour window to do what we needed to do. Because of this entire ordeal, ten people or more already knew about our trip and the day wasn't over yet. I prayed that they would all be able to keep it to themselves.

"We are really doing this huh?" Christian mused from his seat beside me. His nerves were starting to get the better of him, and I could almost smell his sweat.

"Yep, we are really doing this," I confirmed while checking my phone for the tenth time during our ride. I sighed and put it back in my pocket: There was no news yet. During elections, no news was good news. Lissa was doing fine - I knew that. I would be the first to know if she wasn't. Still, I felt like I was allowed to be concerned for her.

"Should we even be doing this? With the funeral so close?" He questioned and I shot him an 'are-you-kidding-me' glare.

"We don't have time to wait. Besides, everyone will want to look forward. What could be better than a royal wedding?" He couldn't argue with that. Instead, he decided to address another of his concerns.

"Are you sure it is the right place?" He asked me, questioning my choice of jewel store.

"It is Tiffanys, Christian. Of course, it is the right place," I scowled, offended that he would even ask. Christian was getting more and more anxious as the miles passed.

"No, I have a bad feeling. Dimitri, change the location, we are going to Vic's place by the city hall instead." He called out to Dimitri, who was driving. Dimitri complied right away and reached out to turn off the GPS.

"No, no, no!" I protested. Hans would kill me if I went anywhere else than what we had agreed on. Well, maybe he wouldn't kill me, but he would definitely yell at me in public, which was almost the same.

"I have already contacted Guardian Croft. Everything is under control, Miss Rose," Berk promised me. He was sitting in the passenger's seat. I relaxed slightly and leaned back in my seat. At least I didn't have to worry about Hans.

"What is it with this place, anyway?" I asked while we walked the few meters from our parking spot to the store. "Adrian always insists on going there. I just don't get it. What is so special about this place?" It was too late that I realized what I had just admitted. Well, the cat was out of the bag.

"Adrian? How interesting... Do you buy a lot of jewelry with Adrian, Rose?" He asked with a mischievous smile. I slapped him lightly on the arm.

"He is my friend and my P.R. Consultant. We shop Christmas presents together. Busy calendars." I tried to explain.

"Relax, Rose, I know you have become such a prude that you are about to grow a new hymen." He joked. If only he knew… I gazed at Dimitri for a brief moment only to find that he was already staring at me.

"Right, a new one..." I trailed off jokingly. Quickly averting my gaze from Dimitri, I looked around the store. I had been here a few times before, and it always looked the same. It was a small store filled to the bursting point with gold, diamonds and other treasures. The owner was an elder gentleman who always helped his customers personally.

"Mr. Ozera! Are you back already? Looking for another romantic gift? And is this the lucky lady?" He asked while he gave us a suggestive look. I felt a blush come creeping.

"NO!" We both exclaimed at the same time. He only seemed to be amused by our instant horror.

"This is Rose, she is Lissa's best friend," Christian explained, recovering quicker than I. The man nodded, regarding me closely.

"Ah yes, I thought I recognized you, Miss Hathaway. How may I be of assistance?" He asked pleasantly. I smiled, finally finding my wits, and leaned forward over the counter to create a friendly vibe.

"We are looking for a ring: An engagement ring. We need one that already fits, as we don't have time to have it fitted." I told him with a smile.

"What is her size?" Vic was already beaming with excitement. Obviously, this was a task he enjoyed.

"49," I answered and Christian looked at me weirdly.

"Psychic bond remember?" I pointed out to him. He didn't say anything and kept his thoughts to himself. I just rolled my eyes at him. Vic quickly returned with a few trays of jewelry.

"Alright, let's have a look." He muttered as he placed them on the table. There were a lot of different items in the right size and many various designs. "Is there a specific style that you are looking for?" He asked, trying to narrow it down. Christian looked at me with a helpless expression. Yep, he was in over his head.

"I think she would like a princess cut stone, maybe a colored one? Her mother's engagement ring had a colored stone." I requested trying to channel Rhea into the ring. Vic put aside a few different items that fit the description.

"How about that one?" Christian asked and pointed to a ring in an obnoxious design. It featured a big diamond which was framed by so many smaller stones that I felt dizzy just by looking at it.

"I think maybe less is more," I tried to guide gently. Vic put forward a few that were more simple. "How about that one?" I asked, pointing at a ring with a big yellow diamond. Christian grimaced.

"It looks similar to my mother's." That was self-explanatory. Ruling out all yellow diamonds, I was about to suggest a pink one when the bell from the door rang. We both looked up at the intruder of this intimate moment. Shock ran through me. What was _he_ doing here?

"Mr. Ivashkov. Here to pick up your order?" Vic asked joyfully. Adrian found his voice before we did.

"Yes, please. Also, if you could wrap it for me? I won't have time to do it myself." He explained while not taking his eyes off of us. Vic smiled knowingly and retreated to the room behind the counter.

"What are you doing here?" Christian demanded to know. He had been so vulnerable a brief moment ago that it felt odd to see him so tense. Christian and Adrian had never got along. After Adrian chased so openly after me Christian's jealousy had eased, yet they remained strangers. In my opinion, they were just too different. Adrian had everything that Christian was deprived off, yet he hated everything about it. It was a shame, but you couldn't force a friendship.

"Me? What are you doing here?" Adrian's eyes went from Christian's fierce gaze to the rings on the counter, and I could see him put the pieces together. "Are you two looking at engagement rings?" He asked and sounded like he found it equally amusing and surprising. Christian cursed loudly.

"There went the surprise. Yes, we are. Would you mind not telling anyone?" Adrian's usual easy smile found its way to his lips.

"Don't worry: My cousin won't hear a word of this little secret." He made it sound as if it was something dirty. I rolled my eyes at him, as I did something caught my eye on the top shelf of the store and I gasped loudly.

"Vic? Could we have a look at that one?" I requested. Vic poked his head out through the door opening, but I couldn't see his face as I was focused on the ring.

"Which one, Miss?" I pointed, without taking my eyes off of it.

"That one!" I exclaimed and the boys both tried to look in the direction my finger was pointing. Vic looked up and seemed to understand right away. A smile spread across his face and he found the ladder. He climbed up and grabbed just the right one, then he slid back down a lot faster than I would have expected for a man his age.

"This?" He asked, carefully handing the ring to me. His smile revealed that he already knew it.

"Yes, this is the one!" I squealed making Christian looked at me with a raised eyebrow. Adrian looked skeptical.

"Are you sure? It isn't anything like you described…" Christian asked me hesitantly but he seemed to approve as he regarded it with fondness already.

"I know, it is even better! I mean just look at it! It is like a freaking snowflake. She will think of your ice-blue eyes every time she looks at it. Trust me, this is it." I told him and he seemed to blush a little at my comment about his eye color.

"Isn't it a bit small? Girls like big rocks." Adrian tried to consult. I shook my head and tsked at him.

"Lissa isn't like all the other girls. She appreciates thought above size. I am telling you: This is the one, it doesn't get any better than this."

Christian nodded, thoughtfully, "I like it," he confirmed confidently and took it from me. "Will it fit?" He asked nervously turning it between his fingers trying to figure out if it would fit on Lissa's petite hand. I took it back from him and tried it on my left middle finger.

"On her right hand, it will, but not on the left," I instructed and he looked at me weirdly again.

"How do you know…?"

I sighed annoyed, "she inherited a lot of jewelry from her mother, okay? We tried all of them on, and it turns out that her right ring finger is the exact same size as my left middle finger." I explained and he seemed to find it utterly amusing but didn't comment on it. He took the ring back from me and put it on the counter.

"I'll take it." He told Vic who came out in the same second with a bag for Adrian. Adrian took it without a word, ignoring our questioning stares.

"Do you want it wrapped?" Vic asked thoughtfully but Christian shook his head.

"No, just put it in a box. I haven't figured out how to propose yet." He answered and held out his credit card.

"Well, the prince is on point," Adrian commented beside me. I elbowed him. The ring wasn't as expensive as some royal engagement rings, but it was a little pricey. However, I knew Christian could afford it and it was perfect for Lissa. Christian turned back towards us with a huge smile, ring box in hand.

"We have a ring," he stated. I felt my own grin mirroring his.

"We have a ring," I confirmed and beside me, Adrian chuckled.

"Now you need to get her to say yes." Christian shook his head.

"No, now we need to make it the perfect night, so she can't say no. I think I know how," he said confidently and then looked at Adrian.

"Do you need a ride back to court?" He asked, suddenly back to normal. Adrian shook his head.

"No, I drove here." He seemed to get a little distant, then he snapped out of it and looked at me again with a crooked smile.

"How would you do a proposal?" He asked me. I sighed dreamingly as I pictured the perfect proposal before me.

"Well, I would want to go dancing, but Lissa is a more private person. I guess I would propose in the church attic. Christian knows what I mean." I added and smirked at Christian who suddenly seemed uncomfortable.

"Shut up," he muttered and took the bag that Vic held out to him. "Thank you, Vic." Vic smiled knowingly and bid us goodbye.

"Lord Ozera, the tryout is almost over. We have to go now if you want to be there when the princess returns," Dimitri suddenly spoke up behind us. He hadn't said a word the entire day.

"Yes, of course. Rose, will you be riding with Adrian?" I wanted to go with Adrian as we had barely seen each other all week. However, there was something I had to tell Christian before we went to see Lissa.

"No, I am riding with you," I looked back at Adrian. "I'll see you tonight?" He looked slightly disappointed but didn't protest.

"Yeah, can't wait," he noted bitterly. Tonight, we were having dinner with Rufus and the Ivashkovs. Naturally, Adrian was bitter before it had even started. I didn't have the time or the energy to comfort him. Instead, I pulled him in for a slight hug.

"Later," I whispered promising in his ear, then I turned around and followed Christian to our car.

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I already wrote the next and only need to edit. Hopefully, it'll be up soon ;)**

 **XOXO**


	7. The problem with loose ends

**VA isn't mine.**

 **Hey there! I am sorry, I have been all tied up with law-school lately. This chapter was a bit of a challenge for me as I wanted for Rose and Dimitri to have their private moment, yet I also needed to get on with the plot. I hope you'll enjoy it!**

RPOV

I sighed and looked at the time on my phone. It was clear I wouldn't get any sleep tonight.

"So what do I do?" I asked impatiently. It had been several hours since I had been escorted from a very awkward dinner party at the Ivashkov household to the head guardian's office under the excuse of an emergency. To be fair, it was an emergency. A pretty big one: Due to a security breach, someone had been able to add Victor Dashkov to the list of nominates. Not just that, but someone had also helped him complete and document the first task, meaning he was now officially running for the throne. The thought that he had been out there in the wilderness with Lissa made me sick. They could have been just a few miles apart without realizing it.  
Hans sighed and rubbed his eyes. He had been up all night with me, trying to find a way out of this mess.

"You don't do anything. As it is, you are too involved in this election already. If you get involved in any more drama, accusations will start to come in. Stay out of the public eye and let us handle it." I huffed.

"That isn't going to happen, you know that. Besides, you put me in charge of security logistics. I am not leaving that to someone else." It was a vague argument but I was clinging on to it with everything I had. If Victor Dashkov was planning on making a comeback, I wanted to be in the best possible position to fight him. Hans looked about ready to give up, yet I knew he wouldn't let me win.

"Rose," he started using my chosen first name, "please, just this once don't make this something personal. I am trying to do my job, for all of our sakes," he paused then took a deep breath and started anew. "Leave court, that is my best advice. Leave court and don't come back until all of this is over." I couldn't help but smile. Even he knew that wasn't going to happen.

"And the real plan?" I asked, referring to the fact that obviously, I wasn't going to just leave. He looked at me with a stern expression and folded his hands.

"You are staying with your father?" He asked yet again and I nodded.

"Yes, I'll inform you if it changes." He gave me a curt nod.

"Alright. I'll have two guardians stationed at all times, they are to make sure the house stays clear. Princess Dragomir has been moved to more secure housing and I expect Lord Ozera to follow. You are not to do anything at all about Dashkov, understood?" I nodded reluctantly. I really wanted to snap Victor's neck, but I knew it wasn't the smartest move even if I found out where he was. "Rose, I mean it. Don't do anything reckless. I will have you arrested if I have to," he ordered sternly and I held up my hands in surrender.

"I promise I won't do anything without telling you about it first," I swore although we both knew it was a lie. He narrowed his eyes at me but eventually waved me off.

"Go, it is almost dawn. You need some rest." I shook my head.

"Sleep is the last thing I need, but I'll get out of your hair. Goodmorning guardian Croft." I bid in farewell and left his office.

* * *

Hours later at the gym...

RPOV

He pulled himself up on the rack one more time with a groan. I starred at a single drop of sweat that trailed down his chest. His sweet, muscular chest. Why wasn't he wearing a shirt? What was wrong with wearing a shirt? If I went to the gym without a shirt, then someone would kick me out of there that was certain. Why could he train half naked when I couldn't? It was an equality issue for another day. The big question right now was: Did I mind seeing his naked chest? No, no I didn't. Was it distracting? Hell yeah!

"How was dinner?" The words rolled over his tongue in sweet waves. I melted at the sound, almost disappearing into past times. It took me a while to realize that it was a question. I stopped mid crunch and used a moment to search my brain for a response.

"Oh my god, Dimitri, when did you become such a jerk?" I asked him once I had had time to turn his words over. He dropped down to the floor and crossed his arms above his chest.

"I asked you how the dinner went?" He defended, sounding confused. I rolled my eyes at him.

"It wasn't what you said, it was how you said it." He raised an eyebrow.

"How I said it?" I huffed and matched his stance with my arms crossed.

"Yeah! You didn't ask 'how was dinner?' You said ' _how was dinner?'_ You implied something!" I explained. He seemed to think I was being ridiculous.

"Roza, I asked how dinner went. There wasn't anything implied, but now you are making me curious. So, how _was_ dinner?" He asked with a smirk and I rolled my eyes at his coyness.

"Dinner was a disaster, okay! It was absolutely terrible. Everyone was awkward, Rufus got drunk and I wish I had too!" I cried, throwing my hands up in the air. He walked over to me calmly and extended his hand to help me up from the floor. "What?" I asked, somehow feeling offended by the gesture.

"Just take it," he urged me. I pouted but took his hand and let him help me up. "Come on," he told me and guided me out with a hand on my lower back. I was confused as he guided me into the foyer and to the other side. It was a mini spa. How cute.

"I didn't know we had these facilities," I pondered as he grabbed us two towels.

"We didn't until recently. The private clinic closed down. Someone must have sneaked it past the accountant. I think they marked the post as 'rehab facility'." He explained. I took the towel he offered me. That made sense. Usually, guardians had a low budget on just about everything. However, few costs weren't questioned, such as rehabilitation.  
They deserved the luxury, I figured. He started up the steam room and held the door open for me. The tiles were hot and already dripping from the last use.

"So, what is it really about, Roza?" He asked as the room started to fill with steam. I glanced at him but you could hardly see anything in here.

"I pay a therapist to have these conversations you know," I told him, snapping a little for air in the hot climate.

"I know. I just figured maybe you could use a friend instead?" He offered nicely and I instantly felt bad for snapping at him. Sighing deeply I confessed to the most innocent of my recently committed sins.

"I don't know whatever to hope that I get to keep my seat or not." He was silent for a while. When he finally answered he was being surprisingly understanding.

"You don't know if you can go through a lifetime of this," he stated as if it was obvious. I didn't bother to nod, he couldn't see me anyways.

"I know that it is selfish of me. These past years have just been incredibly stressful! I love my job, I do, but sometimes I can't help but think: Life could have been so easy." I admitted shamefully. I heard him let out a low laugh.

"Life is never easy, Roza, you of all people should know that." I took a deep breath, knowing I was about to cross a very delicate but well-defined line. Then I admitted the one thing I had never allowed myself to say aloud.

"It could have been. If it wasn't for that damn car crash, then life could have been easy. None of us would be in this mess. None of us would have ever gotten hurt." It felt good to finally say it. It had been nagging me for a while now.

"It would have been even worse," he told me sincerely. I felt my eyes widen in shock. How could it be any worse than this? The world was upside down for Christ sake! He started to explain: "Lissa would have gone crazy from using spirit years ago. Christian would never have met her, and continued to be a depressed young man. Adrian would - probably - be a raging alcoholic. Viktoria could have been a single mother. Who knows how it would have gone with Victor? Who he might have hurt? Dhampires would still be stuck in that hopeless system that you helped revolutionize. If nothing else, then my life would have been a lot worse without you in it," he admitted.

"You don't mean that," I argued but he insisted.

"Yes I do, Roza you have no idea how much you changed my life for the better." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Have you completely forgotten about the part where you turned strigoi because of me? Or when Nathalie did and you had to kill her? Or when Tasha tried to kill me so you shot her? Or when-" He cut me off suddenly by leaning forward and capturing my lips in a kiss.

"No, I haven't," he told me once he let me go, "but those tragedies are a part of life, Rose. Something bad might have happened anyway. I had you, even for just a short moment. That made my life better." I blushed. He had never said anything like that to me before.

"We need to have a conversation about consent," was my only response. I couldn't see his face so I had to rely on the sound of his voice, but it sounded like he was smiling when he answered: "We need to have a lot of conversations." We sat in silence for a while, until I opened my mouth again.

"What would have happened? With us?" He was silent, too silent for too long. "Right," I stated bitterly and stormed out, leaving him alone in the steam. Silence and lies, that was all I ever got from him.


	8. The calculated risk

**VA isn't mine.**

Rpov

"Are you okay?" I looked up startled at the question. I had been entirely lost in my own thoughts and hadn't been listening to Lissa. She was much less affected by Victors sudden return than I was - I had yet to decide whatever that was a good or a bad thing.

"Yeah, I am fine," I bit out slightly harsher than I intended. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Rose, you need to relax. This had nothing to do with you, really," she insisted. I stared at her.

"Excuse me?" She picked at the extra paint around her nails.

"You are taking it way to personal. Victor is trying to make a comeback has nothing to do with us. Neither has Hans removing you from the administration. He is just doing his job, same as everyone else." I barely caught my jaw before it hit the floor.

"Sorry, I forgot you suffer from Stockholm syndrome," I snarked back. She just shook her head and applied another layer of nail polish.

"You can keep throwing that at me all you want but just so you know: He really does have a point. Even if he didn't, there is nothing you can do about it, so just - relax, would you?" I wouldn't, but I didn't want to cause a fight either so I just rolled my eyes and snatched the remote.

"Hey!" She protested. I popped my lips.

"Sorry girl, if you talk politics on girl-night then I get the remote," I spelled out. She huffed, then her expression softened.

"Do you really have to go back tonight?" She asked me, pleading for me to stay there instead. I out from her house and over to my father's place a few days ago. I had missed her too. While I could be traveling for months sometimes, I missed her more when I knew she was close by.

"Sorry, Liss but it is for the best." She snorted.

"Well, Christian doesn't care. He hasn't even been home since you left," she complained. I frowned and looked at her stomach. It was still flat, there was no way to tell, yet.

"How is…" I trailed off. We had guardians in the room who didn't know about her secret. She shrugged.

"Fine. I haven't told him yet," she admitted guiltily.

"Good. Wait until after the election. Maybe you won't be elected and then there is no harm done," I said. It was an echo of her own thoughts. She was still very young. The other contestants were older and more experienced. The chance that she would be elected was very slim.

"What if I am?" She asked nervously. I smiled at her, gently placing my hand on her knee.

"Then I am sure you will be a great queen," I told her sincerely and she gave me a shy smile in return.

* * *

DPOV – finally huh?

Christian furrowed his brows at me when I held out an arm to stop him from entering. It was in the morning of the moroi day, we were on the doorstep of the house he and Lissa shared. He should have moved back days before but had put it off for unknown reasons. Usually, there would be people everywhere but with all the gatherings the streets were almost empty at all hours. I sent Christian a silent request to be quiet while I observed. Something was off about the house and it wasn't just the extra protection at the door. Silently I waved one of the two guardians at the door over and signaled that he should look after Christian. Both guardians seemed confused but they didn't object. I tried not to make any noise as I entered the house. It was dark on both sides of the staircase, slightly unusual for the hour of the day. However, I could see a small shimmer of light coming from under the door leading into the living room. It was probably coming from the TV.

I pulled out my stake and slipped inside, trying to adjust my eyes to the new lighting as fast as possible, so I wouldn't be surprised by any sudden attackers. Luckily there weren't any. Just a bodyguard and two guardians who seemed confused and alarmed by my presence. On the couch, Princess Vasilisa and Rose were passed out on top of each other. It wasn't hard to figure out what was happening: Someone was upstairs attempting an attack. They had figured that the house's residents would be sleeping in since the light was still turned off. They hadn't known Rose and Vasilisa were downstairs, fallen asleep in front of the TV. It wouldn't be long before they realized their mistake and came downstairs. I wasn't afraid of confrontation, but I wanted the girls out of the way first. I signaled to the others that there was someone upstairs. Rose's private bodyguard went over and opened the window while the guardians took out their stakes and watched the stairs.

I gently shook Rose awake. She opened her eyes and looked at me confused, about to make a loud protest. I put a finger over her lips, letting her know that she had to be quiet. I was about to wake Lissa but she stopped me.

"Carry her," she whispered so quietly it was barely audible. I did as she asked and scooped up the blonde angel. Rose climbed out of the window first. Her bodyguard followed and he took the princess from me, giving me more mobility. I was surprised that she hadn't even stirred. Her two guardians followed us out through the window and we quietly went around the house.

"I've called for back-up. The house should be surrounded during the next few minutes," one of the guardians at the door informed me, keeping his voice down. I nodded and looked back at Rose who was watching us fully alerted.

"Miss Rose? We need to move you to a safer location," her bodyguard informed her. She sighed and looked at me with big eyes that I couldn't entirely read.

"Everything is under control?" She asked quietly. I nodded, feeling the corner of my lips move on its own accord - it only did that for her.

"Yeah, go home. Let the professionals kick some ass," I must have been tired or I wouldn't have attempted to make a joke in front of everyone. I was rewarded by a small strangled chuckle and a knowing gaze from her. That was all I could ask for.

I waited until they had been taken to safety, then we moved in.

Rpov

Adrian tried to get past the guards at the door under loud protests, "I am telling you, she'll want to see me. God damn it, Berk, you know who I am!" Finally, he managed to burst through and his gaze instantly locked on me. "Thank the lord. Are you alright?" He asked and kneeled before me. It was cute that he was concerned for my wellbeing. However, it was more than a tad overdramatic, and I could smell the alcohol fresh on his breath.

"I am fine, just a bit annoyed that I didn't get to punch someone," I told him with a small wave. Behind me, I heard a low chuckle coming from Dimitri. Adrian looked up upon realizing we weren't alone.

"Thank you for taking care of her," he said and stood up to extend his hand to Dimitri. Dimitri took it with a little uncertainty.

"It is my job. I was just here to let Rose know about the details," he explained. I nodded and took the opportunity to fill Adrian in:

"Everyone involved has been put into custody," I assured him. He nodded, seeming happy with that information but desperation was shinning in his eyes.

"Were any of them...? Oh god, we shouldn't have come here," he muttered grasping my shoulders. I shook my head, not wanting Dimitri to know about our problems.

"No, they were after Lissa. She has been moved, again, to another housing." Adrian frowned.

"If they move her one more time they will have to move her into the palace." Suddenly his face turned cold. "I have talked to the guardians investigating aunt Tatiana's death. Rose, something doesn't add up. They are starting to consider murder." I should have gasped in surprise but I didn't even blink. From the moment we heard about her death something had felt wrong.

"Does they have any suspects?" I tried to keep my facial expressions under control, he needed calmness right now.

"Everything is on the table. They think it must have been someone close to her. My poor aunt." I didn't think the word poor was proper to use about the late queen but I didn't tell him that. He could call her an elephant if only it made him feel better.

"I am sorry, for your aunt. She was a remarkable woman." Dimitri condoled and Adrian accepted. "I should get going," Dimitri excused himself, grabbing his duster from the chair.

I called out to him before he disappeared completely, "Dimitri!" He turned around and I tried my best to give him a friendly smile. "Thank you." He gave me a curt nod, then he was gone. I sighed and turned around to look at Adrian. Now that we were alone we could finally have an honest conversation.

"Are you okay?" I asked, and he looked at the floor.

"No? She was murdered, Rose - by someone she trusted." The thought had crossed my mind that Tatiana's death had been awfully convenient, yet beautifully covered up. Whoever did it did a good job. Poison was the obvious guess. "We shouldn't have come back here. No one is safe," he muttered and looked around the room as if the danger was everywhere. I had Berk at the door and an appointed guardian in the kitchen, plus my father had the best guards and security systems so I felt safe but Adrian seemed to be having a sudden fit of paranoia. He had a lot of those lately.

"Adrian, I know this is hard, but we have to talk about your drinking," I started, knowing it was now before I lost my courage. "If it is the darkness, then we have to talk about it so we can figure out how to handle it," I tried a little more carefully. He glared at me.

"No, not now. Rose, my aunt was murdered, I think I am allowed to have a drink!" He defended angrily, and I flinched.

"Not in the middle of the day. Adrian, the moon is high, it is barely past midnight - you can't defend this!" He certainly thought differently. He grabbed his jacket in an offended manner and stormed over to the door.

"I think, maybe it is better if we stay apart for a while," he barked and slammed the door on his way out. I sighed and buried my head in my hands. Why did men have to be so complicated?

Knowing I had things to sort out, I went into the study and pulled out my latest project. It was off the record. I knew I didn't have support to get it through yet, but it didn't hurt to have it prepared. It was something Jesse and I had worked on together and it was a beauty. The first step to remove the barriers between moroi and dhampirs. However, I had lost a little of my high spirit, and currently, I was stuck on one of the lower levels of planning. It didn't help that I had way too much on my plate right now. I sighed and put it aside again. Feeling restless, I didn't know what to do with myself, and it was a relief when the phone rang. I glanced at the caller ID before I picked up.

"Yes?"

"We need to talk."


	9. The hunt and chase

**I do not own the characters, only the plot.**

Rpov

Jesse waited for me with a grim expression. I sighed and pushed the chair back so I could sit on it.

"That bad huh?"

He nodded and added: "Worse."

I sighed. "Just tell me already." He pushed a few papers and magazines towards me.

"You know the local press?" I snorted.

"Press is dressing it up a little. Trash magazines, yeah, I am familiar with those." During my short career, some bored, spoiled moroi who called themselves journalist had dedicated their lives to spreading gossip about me. It was annoying, but I knew people that had it worse. Lissa was very exposed and always had been. At the academy, she had some sort of privacy but here it was a luxury she couldn't afford. Adrian and I enjoyed some privacy seeing as we traveled most of the time, but she lived here and had to deal with prying eyes.

I skipped through the pages. It wasn't good, but I had had worse.

"Why is this of any interest?" I asked him pointed, wanting to know the cause of his sudden interest in trash magazines. He sighed and took out his briefcase. He handed me a few papers that looked like email-correspondences. I recognized them: I had written several of them. These were my emails, a lot of them private. "Where did you get these?" I demanded harshly. He folded his hands.

"Relax, we are on the side. I got these from one of my own sources – I try to keep track of the gossip. Rose, I wanted to let you know because… Well, you can figure out how these surfaced," he gestured to the pages. I frowned and raised both brows, looking at him from the pages' edge.

"I have got a mole?" He grimaced.

"Not a mole; an enemy. These came from the central administration. Someone with direct access to the router. Every court-appointed email goes to the same NVRAM with direct backup and documentation. Whoever leaked these has access to your entire email history," he warned me. I ran a hand over my face in despair.

"I use an extern email for the shadier things, thank god. Who would do this?" I asked while trying to remember whom I had pissed off recently. I had lots of enemies, sure, but this was someone in the administration. It was a guardian or a commoner. I couldn't think of anyone that fitted to that description. Jesse shrugged.

"I don't know. Are you sure there is no dirt? If there is anything that can reflect badly on you, I might be able to help but you have to tell me." I shook my head.

"Everything can be blown out of proportion. I am pretty sure none of it is scandal material, but thank you." It was then that I speculated what his own motives might be. "Hey, wait - why are you helping me?" It wasn't because Jesse never helped me, but Jesse always looked out for Jesse first and foremost.

"We on the same side, mostly at least. Also, I need your help." I smirked. Of course, he did. There was always a catch.

"What can I do for you?" He didn't look all too comfortable. It was unusual seeing him without his charm.

"Mia is pregnant." I blinked. Not only was it unexpected but I also didn't get the problem. I almost congratulated him.

"You guys are married," I stated, feeling a smile threatening to break out.

"It isn't mine." I felt my mouth shape a little o. That was unexpected. They were newlywed, it made no sense.

"What are you going to do?" He sighed deeply.

"I am standing by her, for better and for worse. It isn't what you think it is. Mia didn't cheat on me." I raised my brows, looking at him doubtfully. Then everything fell into place and I felt horrible.

"Oh, god no!" Jesse nodded to confirm my theory. Poor Mia. "What can I do?" I suddenly felt compelled to help them.

I could see he was uncomfortable with asking. He was trembling and looked ill. Still, he swallowed his pride. For Mia.

"She can't get an abortion here. There are too many ways of it getting out. We can't trust a human doctor either - they wouldn't be able to help anyway. Moroi aren't like humans…" He trailed off. I nodded: Moroi had different anatomy than humans. If they went to a human clinic they might end up killing her.

"You need a moroi doctor that can keep tight." He nodded.

"And a way of getting out of court without being seen. I figured you could help?"

"Yes, of course. I'll make arrangements with a doctor in Philly. It'll be less than twenty-four hours. No one will be the wiser." He looked relieved.

"Rose?" It sounded like another favor. "There is one more thing: We will need to leave afterward. She is fragile, and I want her away from prying eyes. Could you…?" I sighed but nodded: I could pull some strings.

"I know a good center. They are very discrete, it is in Switzerland. You can't come with her there but trust me it is her best option." It was a facility that I had once admitted Adrian to. The darkness had been getting the better of him then.

"She will need a fake name," he pointed out.

"I know. I'll take care of it, don't worry. Thank you for this," I gestured to the papers.

"I was hoping we could be allies? I know we are friends, but we might need to rely more on each other in the future." I agreed. Good friends were precious, especially now. I took his hand.

"Of course. Mia is my friend, you know I will do anything to help her. We have gotten close, you and I, despite our past. I treasure that." My words were sincere and I could feel he had been as well. At least I had one ally in this war.

* * *

"Your hits are getting better," Dimitri noted as I punched him in the ribs again. I smirked, knowing he was covering up a grimace of pain.

"Well, I am feeling in excellent shape lately," I noted. He tried to use the distraction of our conversation to surprise me but failed. I used the advantage to flip him over. I was breathing heavily and sweating like a man. Although I pretended to be the ultimate superior I was finding it challenging to be on top. We had been sparing for twenty minutes, during which he had proven that he was every bit of the god he used to be. I helped him up from where he landed. We were about to go for another round when Berk interrupted.

"Miss Rose?" I sighed at the look on his face. It was equal parts pity and stress.

"I am not going to like it, am I?" He shook his head.

"We need to move. Now. You are in immediate danger." I groaned and looked at Dimitri.

"Sorry, I need to go." He furrowed his brows and dropped his stance.

"I am coming with you," he insisted.

I started to protest: "What? No! You have a charge to take care off."

He shrugged. "Someone else can do that. Let's get you out of here, princess," he mockingly called me. I glared at him.

"Whatever."

Berk wasn't having our bickering. He grabbed me by my shoulders and steered me out of the building. We were already hurrying across the racetracks when he yelled to us:

"We have to run," he barked out. I could see the garage in the distance when I heard gunshots right behind us.

"Crap!" I cursed and felt a hand on the back of my head as Berk forced me to keep my head down. Dimitri turned around, gun in hand and fired at someone behind us. I didn't know if he hit anyone cause Berk pushed me inside the garage just then.

"Come on, let's go!" he barked to Dimitri who came running after us. He grabbed me by the arm roughly and pulled me into the backseat of a black SUV. Berk jumped into the front seat and took the wheel. Faster than lightning he had turned on the engine and pulled out of the parking space. I could see him grit his teeth as he drove full speed towards the slowly opening garage port.

"Heads down and hold on tight," he ordered. I did as told and looked at the structure of the mats in the bottom of the car while I heard bullets hit the bulletproof glass of the car windows. Berk drove us directly through the attack, and speed off. Our attackers had manual weapons, thank god, or the glass would have shattered from the bullet rain. He drove like a mad man, trying to get out of reach before they could puncture the wheels. He called ahead to the guardian on duty at the gate and asked them to open up so we could drive through without stopping. They were reluctant, but as Rufus did for me so many years ago, I took over and ordered them to open. When we drove through I could see the guardian pointing his gun at something behind us but I didn't dare to turn my head to see what or who it was.

"Where are we going?" I asked and brushed my hair back once it felt clear to sit up again.

"Out," was Berk's brisk reply. I tried to shake my hair back in place.

"I get that, but where? We can't just keep driving." He seemed to disagree. However, after I kept bothering him he had to give in.

"I'll find a motel. We can't use popular sights. It will be a little under your standard," he prepared me. I blew a few pieces of hair out of my face.

"That is fine, just don't get me killed. Who are we running from anyway?" He didn't answer right away which made me suspicious. "Berk? Who are we running from?" He briefly looked at me through the mirror.

"Eylem called: They had a break-in at Mr. Mazur's house. The guardians stationed at the door were shot and the maid knocked out. You will need to replace the door, they shot it open before they figured out you weren't there. We haven't found out who is responsible yet, but you are not going back before we know." I huffed.

"The hell I am! There is a pretty important election going on, remember? I have to be there. We can stay outside court but we are not staying away." He seemed to accept that he wasn't going to able to keep me away completely. "Did anyone die?" I asked, finding the mental energy to worry about someone else. He shook his head.

"No, but both guardians will need to take time off to recover." I nodded, feeling relieved: At least there weren't any more blood on my conscious. Finally, we pulled up at a motel. Berk went inside to order our room while Dimitri stayed in the car with me.

"You seem very unfaced," Dimitri commented once we were alone.

"This isn't the first time," was my only reply. He looked at me weirdly.

"What do you mean. How often does this happen?" I bit my lip. Telling Dimitri about the regular attacks felt like a defeat, but I owed him an explanation by now.

"We have had a few incidents. Nothing to worry about." I could feel his intense stare burning on the back of my head, as I checked my phone again.

"Nothing serious? Rose, those men were trying to kill you. They broke in, attacked your staff, then hunted you down, trying to kill you. How is it not a big deal?" I sighed and rubbed my face.

"It isn't anything that any royal doesn't have to endure at some point. I am trained for this remember?" Our argument was interrupted by Berk returning with the keys.

"They didn't have any rooms left with three beds, so I had to take a single and a double," there was an apology in the statement. One would have to sleep alone when it was best that we stayed together.

"You need to rest, you should take the single." I took the key to the double room and looked at Dimitri. "We can share, right?"

He nodded slowly. "Sure, no problem."

 **I am back! Sorry for the long pause.**


	10. The sinking ship

"Where on earth have you been?!" I sighed and rubbed my face. I was exhausted after this entire ordeal: The last thing I needed was a fight with my ... PR. Consultant.

Adrian looked at me expectantly, "Well?" His angry gaze locked on Dimitri who came in behind me. He had taken it upon himself to escort me safely to Lissa's current housing. I would be placed here until someone came up with a better plan.

"Berk evacuated us. We only just came back," I told him calmly, sinking down deep into an armchair. Lissa was sending me a worried look from her seat on the couch. On the other side of the room, Christian sat in the other armchair with an arrogant stance that made me want to punch him. Adrian was still standing at the door. He looked slightly offended that I had just strolled past him without offering him an explanation.

"You didn't think to call?!" He sneered. I shrugged.

"Didn't have my phone."

Dimitri came to my rescue then: "We were evacuated very hastily. None of us had time to grab anything, not even our phones. Have you been alright lord Ozera?" He asked towards Christian who nodded.

"Yes, Dimitri, no need to sweat about it." I glared at Christian. He looked like he thought he owned the damn room with his nonchalant behavior. "What?" He asked, catching my gaze. I shook my head at him feeling annoyed, "nothing." Lissa reached out to grab my hand.

"Are you okay? This must be so upsetting for you." I felt the warm feelings she spread through that touch. It was a mild form of magic, but it was ever present in her touch.

"Of course she isn't alright. I swear to god when I find out who did this...!" Adrian trailed off on his threat. He moved behind me to put a hand on my shoulder. I grabbed it in a calming gesture, feeling his distress as clear as I felt Lissa's.

"Relax. I might have a clue," I told them calmly while looking directly at Christian. He returned my gaze, observing me intensely. Lissa's eyes widened in surprise. Obviously, she hadn't noticed the tension in the room before now.

"You do?" I saw Dimitri peak up as well, and I knew I had everyone's attention. I nodded slowly.

"Yes. There is a mole. I already had my suspicions but yesterday only confirmed it. Whoever it was, they must have known every detail about the house. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten ten feet without being shot dead by either mine or my father's security team. Meaning it must be someone close to me. Someone who has access to all the necessary information..." I was still looking at Christian as I said it. He finally seemed to get where I was going as he raised a brow at me.

"You think it is me?" He asked bluntly.

Lissa gasped."Rose!" She scolded but I barely glanced in her direction. I loved her but she was so ignorant at times.

"I am not saying it is, but it would make an awful lot of sense," I noted bitterly. The bastard laughed it off.

"Right, one attack and you immediately point your finger at me. Ever thought about why it is that you keep making enemies, huh, Rose?" I didn't grant him an answer to the insult.

"I am not pointing any fingers at anyone, but it sure would make sense," I persisted. He snorted angrily.

"You know what Rose? You have a real problem with forgiveness. I get that almost getting shot was dramatic and all, but guess what? She died, alright?! So why won't you let it go?!" He yelled at me.

"It is a little hard to let something go when it keeps coming back to kill you!" I sneered at him. Like always I was quickly growing tired of having to explain myself. His taunting smile flattened.

"What do you mean: Keep coming back?" He asked. I looked at Adrian for help - this wasn't the way I wanted this conversation to go down. Adrian sighed and slid down on the armrest of my chair.

"This isn't the first time Rose has had to run for her life. We have had more than a few incidents during the last couple of years but these past six months have been worse. Nowhere is safe. Last month, we were evacuated during a senator's birthday reception-party - we barely made it out with our lives. If Rose hadn't been such a quick thinker we would have been ambushed at the exit. We thought it was Tasha's legacy living on, but maybe someone has been keeping the fire burning," he spat the last part at Christian who looked startled.

"Oh my god, Rose, why didn't you say anything?!" Lissa exclaimed, looking between us with big worried eyes. Christian found his voice again.

"Look I don't know anything about that. I am not trying to kill you, Rose, I am not your enemy. I get that you don't want to be friends. That doesn't make me hate you." It was my turn to be surprised.

"Why wouldn't I want to be your friend?" He snorted.

"Please! You have straight up ignored me for years. Ever since the incident with Tasha!" Lissa nodded in agreement.

"That is true, you have."

"Me?! You haven't even looked my way since then! How on earth am I supposed to start a conversation? Oh, hi Christian, remember that time you aunt almost killed me? That was cool, right? Let's be buddies!" I said sarcastically. Christian looked at me weirdly.

"You thought I should take the first step?" I looked at him with big eyes and raised brows.

"Yeah!" Well Duh! He started laughing and pointed frantically between us.

"Are you telling me we haven't been on speaking terms for four years because we were both waiting for the other to take the first step?" He asked me, laughing hysterically. I started giggling myself and nodded. It took a moment where no one dared to speak while we laughed, then he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. "I don't know who did this, Rose, but whoever did, didn't know of your training sessions with Dimitri or they wouldn't have attacked the house at that hour. I hope that helps," he offered. I thought about it for a moment then cursed. He was right.

"What?" Adrian asked me, feeling left out. I shook my head.

"It is a spirit user," I concluded. He looked at me weirdly.

"Why?" sighing deeply I explained:

"The house is a fortress. Very few people know about the entire security plan. I trust my guards and my father, none of them would let anything slip. The only way is for someone to compel one of them and make them reveal everything then make them forget that they did so." He looked speculative.

"Any suggestions." I grimaced. In fact, I did.

"Well, one crazy brother is trying to make a comeback in politics and the other just might be trying to kill me," I stated. His expression turned grim. He shot a quick glare towards Dimitri and muttered, "Dashkov."

* * *

"Rose, it is so good to hear from you. How are you, sweetheart?" I rolled my eyes although he couldn't see it over the phone.

"Cut the crap, what do you want?" There was an uncharacteristic silence on the phone.

"I want what I have always wanted: To free this world of the incompetent government which has led it to this mal-constructed place. You should be supporting me, really, it is what you are trying to accomplish as well, but maybe you are afraid of the competition," he mocked me. I growled.

"I am not the one who tries to kill of my competitors." There was another silence.

"I don't know what you are talking about." I snorted.

"Of course you do. You or your crazy brother broke through my security and sent a hit team to do the dirty work. It is Nathalie all over again, you are still using others because you are too cowardly to fight your own battles. But guess what? I am not. So get your shit together because I am coming for you."

"Don't you dare say her name ever again." His voice was sharp, it left no room for discussion and while I knew I crossed the line I also didn't care.

"You still didn't answer: What the hell do you want?" There was another long silence.

"I don't know what you are talking about Rose. But if I did, wouldn't it be obvious that I wanted you dead?" He gave me a brief pause to ponder over his question before he continued, "however, I don't. Neither does Robert. We didn't have anything to do with it, but I could help you figure out who does. I am still very well connected as you may recall." As always there was a catch to the offer. Nothing Victor gave you was for free, but I was out of options. I sighed.

"At what price?" I could basically hear him smirk.

"I hear you are behind the logistic planning of the security for the tryouts." I already cringed.

"Hans pulled me from the team when you showed up," I told him, trying to block the way this was going.

"But you planned it?" He insisted. I bared my corner teeth at the hidden suggestion, already in defense mood.

"I am not getting you into the second election."

He laughed, "then I am not figuring out who is trying to kill you. Good luck then." I made a brief decision although I knew I was going to regret it.

"Wait! I'll do it. Get me the bastard and I'll get you into the second act. But I swear to god Victor that is the only favor you are getting from me." It was a warning for him not to test me.

"That is all I ever wanted from you. We will be in touch." With that little goodbye note, he hung up. I exhaled deeply, knowing that I just made a deal with the devil. Now I had to find a hole in my own plan. I cursed loudly. Why did I have to be so damn good at my job?


	11. The momentary proposal

The door burst open suddenly. I had been working in one of the palace's empty studies, a beautiful room with light, delicate furniture, which I had been allowed to use temporarily. I groaned and turned to look at the intruder. I expected to see one of my usual suitors so imagine my surprise when none other than Christian Ozera marched in looking rather dazzling if I may say so. I raised both brows in an invitation for him to get on with it quickly.

"Everything is set for tonight. Are you sure she hasn't figured it out?" He asked anxiously. I spaced out for a moment to check on her through the bond.

"Nope, not a clue," I told him poping on the p. I tried to read the last line of my code again so I could return to my work. He adjusted the collar of his blue, velvet blazer and did a small twirl for me.

"Do I look alright?" I gave him a quick thumbs up, barely looking up from my computer.

"What will she be wearing?" He asked me gingerly. I shrugged, pretending like I hadn't been on the phone with her earlier that day for over thirty minutes to help her pick out an outfit.

He brushed something off the edge of his sleeve and pulled on the cuff of his shirt.

"Are you sure that she will say yes?" He asked again nervously. I sighed a little dramatic and turned to face him. I placed my elbow firmly on the table and let my chin rest in the palm of my hand. I looked at him with wide eyes in an annoyed expression.

"For the love of god, Christian, bugger off and propose already!" I exclaimed. This must be how it is to have children. He smirked at my outburst.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist!" His smile turned a little more uncertain. "Thank you, Rose, I mean it." I rolled my eyes and waved towards the door.

"Yeah, yeah, your welcome. Now get out and let me work!" He chuckled at the last part but wandered off promising to give me an update. I sighed and tried to return to work, but the peace lasted less than an hour before the door opened again. I was about to yell at Christian to grow a pair, but when I turned around I looked into two, glittering, emerald-colored eyes.

"Close your computer, we are going dancing." I laughed and tried to wave him off.

"No, we are not. I have loads of work to be done!" I told him off. He smacked the lid of the computer shut - I had to pull my fingers back so they wouldn't get smashed. "Hey!" I exclaimed but he didn't seem to be sorry. He walked around the table and pulled me to my feet.

"Come on baby girl. Let's have some fun." I huffed angrily but followed him anyway. Maybe it would help me keep my mind off Christian's proposal and, hopefully, stay out of Lissa's head, so I didn't have to witness the whole thing.

* * *

D-Pov

It was a quiet night. When Friday during the election came around people preferred to do either of two things: Socialize in private settings or go out to enjoy the human clubs and restaurants. Christian had planned a private night for Lissa and himself. A picnic under the stars behind the great church. Of course, she had no idea tonight was the big night. Or perhaps she did. She had outdone herself with a beautiful, green, silk dress. Her hair was pulled back by two large pearl-decorated hairpieces. She kept fidgeting with the hem of her dress. Obviously, she was nervous. So was Christian, and unfortunately, that made his attempt at being romantic rather comical.

Her guardian and I sometimes caught each other's gaze during something particularly awkward. We were trying to give them their privacy but had to maintain a high level of security. We had closed off the area around the church. Two guardians were patrolling the border well out of sight to make sure they weren't interrupted or in danger.

Finally, Christian found the courage to start up his proposal.

"Lissa," he started and took her hand, "have you ever thought about the future?" I mentally cringed. That was not how he wanted to start.

"Ehm, yeah, I mean we have been together for a while," she commented and sipped her champagne. He nodded and let go of her hand.

"When I have pictured my future... Well, you have always been in it," he started getting closer to the point.

"Aww, Christian you have always been in my vision as well. You, me, Adrian, Rose... Just a happy family," she stated. I saw how Christian's face fell at the mentioning of Rose and Adrian. I, myself, probably tensed a little too.

"Yeah, well, you see when it comes to family-" she cut him off.

"Actually, I was talking to Adrian the other day: He talked about Mr. Mazur like they were already family. Do you think they are getting married?" It was getting painful to watch for more than one reason. Christian took a deep breath and grabbed her chin to make her look at him.

"Lissa, for god's sake, listen to me. I love you, Vasilisa Dragomir. You are my everything; heart and soul. Will you marry me?" Finally! There was a long painful silence. Then she let out a piercing scream and threw herself at him.

"YES! YES, YES, YES! A HUNDRED TIMES YES! I will marry you, Christian Ozera!" A relieved smile spread across his face and I exchanged a look with Alicia. At least she said yes.

* * *

RPOV

He pulled me closer and tilted his face down to mine.

"What are you thinking about?" He murmured and I smiled. It was the first slow song tonight, and I was a bit sweaty from all the dancing. Adrian had chosen a pup as our location. While it wasn't crowded like a club, there were plenty of other couples on the floor.

"I am thinking about how long it has been since I heard that song," I admitted. He smiled and I could feel his even breathing on my cheek.

"It was in Manchester, wasn't it?" I nodded, sighing happily at the memory. It all seemed so far away now. "I need to ask you a question," he confessed. I shrugged, wriggling my hips a little to the rhythm.

"Ask away." He took a deep breath next to my ear.

"We have been together for a while," he stated. I giggled.

"That isn't a question."

"I am getting to it." He turned us around, so we were dancing the other way. "I need you to answer with your heart, Rose. Don't think about the repercussions: We can and will discuss everything later. Then, you can say no if you want to, but I want you to say yes to this moment. To me and to us. Little dhampir, What I am trying to say is: I hope to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" I stared up at him in wonder. It took me several minutes to realize he was being serious. Then I considered it: There were a lot of pros and cons. Obviously, there was still a big if revolving around Dimitri. Also, I might lose my job in a few days. Then there were all the reasons I had said no to Adrian before. He smoked, he drank, he was a playboy. Only, he hadn't been for quite a while now.

Then I allowed myself to feel: Feel the moment and myself. I loved Adrian - I did. We had been through a lot together. He had been there every step of the way, never wavering when I needed him to support me. With Adrian, there was no if. He wanted this and he was ready. And so was I. He had asked me to say yes to the moment, and at that moment there was no doubt.

"Yes."

 **Note: This is not the end of Romitri. Hang on there.**


	12. The pride of men

Rpov

When I woke up the bed was empty. It was unusual for Adrian to be up this early, normally he would be watching me sleep. I checked in the bathroom but found it to be empty as well. Deciding to get dressed before I wandered around in my father's house, I walked into the walk-in and found an outfit had already been picked out. A flower-patterned sundress and a pair of heels. I didn't pick any jewelry, deciding my beautiful ring was enough. I climbed down the old staircase in the slim hallway and looked around. I couldn't help but worry about where he had gone. I would have expected him to sleep in on the day after our engagement, not be up before sunset. Luckily, I found him in the dining room. It was the only bright room as it had several big windows to let in the sunlight. Adrian was sitting by the table with his reading glasses and a lot of papers on the table. Damian, the Ivashkov family's lawyer, was there with him and my father was making notes on something that looked several pages long. I knocked carefully making them all look up.

"Look who is up! Good morning Kizim," my father stood up to greet me. He put his arms around me and placed a light kiss on my cheek. I put my hand on his strong shoulder and smiled while carefully regarding the other men. They seemed happy yet serious.

"What is going on in here?" I asked with a smile looking pointedly at the papers. Adrian gave me a charming smile.

"Well, I promised you we would work out the details, didn't I? Your father and Damian have been working on a prenup and checking all is well and fair. We were just closing up." I furrowed my brows.

"A contract? Is that the best way to start a mirage?" I asked. Damian nodded and sent me a small smile. I liked Damian, he had always been very polite and objective towards me.

"On average, marriages with prenups last longer. It helps when both parts feel more secure in the marriage."

My father put a comforting arm around my waist. "I have read it trough Kizim. Aside from a few adjustments, I think it is a fair deal. In case of divorce, neither has claims to the other's fortune. In a few years, yours might be the bigger one." He winked at me, then continued, "there was one thing I found strange tho. Infidelity is no longer a reason for divorce?" He looked at Adrian sharply.

"Yes, well, Rose and I have discussed it. We think problems should be solved not shunned." I couldn't recall discussing that but I kept that to myself for now. "Other than that there is the part about children..." he trailed off. My father nodded. I felt utterly confused.

"Yes, Kizim sit down." I did, feeling weirded out. Damian handed me a copy of the contract.

"This is the part about heirs. The Ivashkov family has a strong interest in continuing the line," he paused, not knowing how to get on with it. I decided to do us both a favor and offered the conclusion myself:

"You want Adrian to have a moroi child." He nodded, eyes searching mine cautiously. I shrugged.

"I don't want children. I already told Adrian that. He can have a bastard if he wants to I don't care."

"Kizim!" My father hissed. I was about to tell him off but was distracted by Adrian reaching for my hand.

"You might want to reconsider, Rose. I voiced my concern to Lissa. She gave me a rather interesting proposal: She'll donate the egg. The only condition is that the child gets both the Ivashkov and the Dragomir name," he explained. I needed a moment to understand what he meant. When it dawned on me, I was left disgusted.

"She'll have a child with you? Why?!" I exclaimed. Adrian explained it to me patiently.

"The bigger the family, the stronger the line. I have enough Dragomir blood for our children to carry the name. She doesn't want to have a huge pack of kids running around. However, her having just one or two won't strengthen anything. I need to produce, she needs to as well. Another heir." I still felt disgusted, but it made sense. I wasn't completely on board tho.

"I don't want to raise a child," I told him stubbornly. He shrugged as if it didn't mean anything.

"Maybe not now, but in a few years? We'll get a surrogate to carry the child, a nanny to take care of it, all you have to do is stay married to me. I don't expect anything else from you," he said calmly. Maybe my father noticed I was about to bolt, cause he laid his hand on my shoulder. Feeling his presence behind me was reassuring. I had someone here who was looking out for me.

"You don't have to sign it right now. Talk to your friend - I am sure talking to her will help you make the right decision." Hearing his clever voice was healing. He was right: I didn't have to make a decision right away.

"What if we have a child?" I asked suddenly, taking all three men by surprise. "What? It is a risk by having sex, you know!" I exclaimed. My father chuckled.

"Certainly is," he muttered, referring to me no doubt. Adrian smiled a little, looking slightly blissful at the thought.

"Then they would get my name and have equal claims to the heritage," he said confidently. My father coughed, "Mazur." I looked at him startled.

"No way! No Mazur, Hathaway!" I insisted. Damian looked like he was trying very hard to hide his smile.

"That is a discussion that can wait. Right now I need you to sign here." He held out a piece of paper and pointed at the bottom.

"What is that?" I asked, scanning the document.

"It says you will return the ring in case of separation," he explained. I frowned but grabbed the pen.

"Why would I want to keep it?" I asked and Adrian leaned back with a secretive smile.

"Not that ring. The other one." I raised both brows.

"The other one?" Damian nodded and unlocked his briefcase. He took out a ring box and logged in another code, then opened it and showed me the content. It was a huge emerald surrounded by diamonds.

"I can't wear that! It'll crush my hand, or someone will cut my finger off!" I exclaimed. Adrian seemed amused.

"This has been in the family for centuries. It is one of the biggest emeralds in the world - almost as big as Wallis Simpson's." He took my right hand, carefully putting the ring on my finger. "It is a statement piece and it is yours unless we decide to part." He told me placing a kiss on my cheek while I was distracted by the ring. "It'll tell the world of our engagement. We won't even have to say a word," he promised in my ear. I looked at Damian for help. He was regarding us with a strange smile on his face.

"Welcome to the family, Rose," he greeted, handing me the box.

"You can lock it up in a few months, no problem. Just call me when you do so we can have it insured." I nodded, not knowing what to say about any of this. That ring was so big!

My dad stood up and excused himself. "I'll give you some time to speak," was his exit line.

I waited, patiently, for him to disappear out of ear reach before I started interrogating Adrian. "You want to be able to cheat in our marriage?" I accused. He took it very calmly and purred himself some more coffee.

"Maybe. I don't want it to be the reason for a divorce, no, but mostly that part was for you."

I was stunned. "For MY sake?!" I hissed angrily.

He nodded, "I know about Dimitri." Oh. I didn't really know what to say. Technically, I hadn't been cheating seeing as we hadn't been a couple until yesterday, but I would understand if he was angry. "I am not angry," was the first thing he said. Well, there went that. I felt a little conflicted. I had expected anger - this I didn't know how to handle. "Rose, I want you. I want to grow old with you, to have a family and to cherish and love each other. If you have a lover on the side, then fine, but I am done waiting for him to let you go completely." He took my hand in a firm grip. "I am in this for the long run," he promised. I was flattered by his dedication but also worried about his feelings.

"I need to talk to Lissa about this if you don't mind?" I was already halfway out of my seat. Thankfully, he let go of my hand.

"Go ahead, take all the time you need. Oh, but just so you know: My mother will want to throw us an engagement party soon." I felt claustrophobic and needed to get away, so, I just agreed and bolted for the door to get out of there.

* * *

CPOV

"Oh my god, it is huge!" A lovely feminine voice exclaimed next to me. I smirked, not yet opening my eyes.

"Relax you have seen it before. The ring as well." I joked and received a light smack on my chest which made me sit up.

"Not that. Well that too, but look!" My lovely girlfriend - fiancé - ordered and showed her phone in my face. It took me a minute to adjust to the light coming from the screen.

"Bloody murder. Is that even a ring?" It looked more like a golfball sized gem had grown on the side of Rose's hand. It was a paparazzi photo from this morning, showing her leaving Mazur's house with a big ass ring on her finger. I scoffed: It made the one I gave Lissa look like a souvenir.

"Do you think he finally asked her?" Lissa asked energic. I blinked a few times trying to catch up.

"Adrian? Was he going to propose?" And did it have to be on the same night I did? She nodded so all her blonde hair fell into her face.

"I helped him with ring sizes last week. Did you know that we almost share the same ring size?" I couldn't help a small smile.

"Yeah, I think I heard it before." Luckily, she was too busy studying the picture to take notice of what I said.

"I can't believe we got engaged on the same night!" Nope, me neither. I knew that I had no reason to be mad at Rose, she didn't plan this, but Adrian sure did. Someone rang the doorbell. I growled but went to answer it, not feeling like listening to more of Adrian's proposal to Rose. As fate would have it, Rose was at the door, bodyguard in tow.

"Can I come in?" She asked. I stepped aside and let her in. The morning was ruined anyway. She was dressed in a sundress, which made me look like a slob: I had only thrown on a bathrobe over my boxers. Luckily, Lissa came out just then wearing her own bathrobe.

"Oh my god, Rose! I just saw the photo, why didn't you tell me?!" she exclaimed placing her hand on her hip in an offended stance.

Rose looked momentarily startled. "I am a little confused as to what you are referring to."

Lissa scoffed, "your engagement?! I had to find out via social media gossip!"

Rose sighed deeply and landed in one of our armchairs. "Gees, I seriously just walked less than a mile, has it already made headlines?" I nodded, getting that she wasn't looking all too happy about it. Lissa sat on our sofa table across from her.

"How did it happen? I want to hear everything!" Something sparked in Rose's eyes. It could have been excitement, but I had my doubts. She was curious, and it was a rather unusual look for the all-knowing Rose Hathaway.

"I think you need to tell me something first." She reached out and grabbed Lissa's hand like she just caught a glimpse of the ring and hadn't been looking for it all along. Lissa blushed.

"Christian proposed!" She exclaimed happily. I smiled at how excited she sounded. At least she was still looking forward to the wedding, despite the size of the rock. Rose put on a good show of looking surprised - I had to give her that. If I hadn't been arguing with her in the jewelry store a few days earlier, I wouldn't have been the wiser.

"He did?! Oh my god! Tell me everything: Where? When? Did he go down on one knee?" I scowled: She hadn't even bothered to answer me about that. I had decided not to be a cliché but now I got the idea that I should have.

Lissa blushed, her entire face took a pink shade. "No, but it was so romantic. He made a picnic for us, with strawberries and champagne and everything!" I pretended to look for something in the kitchen cabinet. It was better to give them some peace when they got caught up in girl talk. Rose did her part, looking truly happy for Lissa. I wasn't sure if it was genuine or pretend - she had always been a great actress.

"It is so beautiful!" She exclaimed when Lissa showed the ring to her again.

"Well, it is not as big as yours but-" Rose cut her off with a scoff.

"Are you kidding me? It is gorgeous. It looks like a snowflake It reminds me of Christian's eye color." She was good. Lissa already regarded her ring more fondly. "I wish mine was as personal," Rose added. I mentally blessed her. Thank god she had showed up!

"But your ring is so big!" Lissa took the time to finally study the giant piece on Rose's finger.

"It is one of the Ivashkov families heirlooms. It isn't even half as personal as yours. Adrian chose it because of the size. He called it a statement piece! I literally had to sign a contract, stating that it is only on loan before I could even wear it. Not very romantic." Lissa gasped.

"Seriously? But it is an engagement ring!" Rose nodded and showed her something on the other hand. It was another ing that looked like a little crown.

"He proposed with this last night: He wanted me to have something personal as well." Two rings?! Damn him!

"Oh, Rose, it is beautiful! He must really love you." Rose snorted.

"He likes how convenient it is. I am not sure he loves me," she sighed then flashed a smile. "But enough of that. When is the wedding?" Lissa froze. I stopped in the middle of pouring my coffee. We hadn't discussed that yet, but with the hurry of getting engaged, I had a feeling it was a pressing matter.

"Well, I don't know, we haven't discussed it yet," Lissa answered a little sharply and looked at me with big scared eyes. Rose gave me a pointed look over Lissa's shoulder. It was important I gave the right answer. I drank my coffee slowly while I tried to read her face but there was no clear answer to find. Eventually, the liquid ran out and I couldn't hold it any longer. I cleared my throat and tried the most obvious answer I could.

"Well, actually, Liss, sweetheart, I was thinking - would you mind if we had the ceremony a little soon? Either elope or have a private ceremony? I can't wait to call you Mrs. Ozera, and we can always have a big wedding later on." Rose was nodding encouraging at each word and Lissa squealed and ran up to hug me.

"Oh my god, yes! How about tomorrow?!" She asked, beaming with happiness. I felt reality move in on me all too quickly.

"Tomorrow?" Was she nuts? Why were we in such a hurry?

Rose cleared her throat behind us. She seemed way too relaxed with all of this. "Lissa why don't you ask Daniella? I am sure she can fix you a ceremony within a week. I mean, everyone important is already here at court."

Lissa nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, Rose, you are a genius! Are you sure Daniella won't mind?"

Rose snorted. "She is already planning my engagement party. We can combine it." Lissa giggled but I felt relieved. Rose stood up suddenly and made a dramatic gesture. "Well, I will get out of your hair. I am sure someone misses me somewhere. If you don't see me again this rock probably got me killed somehow!" She yelled on her way out. Halfway out the door she stopped suddenly and looked back at us. I could only imagine what she was seeing: We were standing in each other's embrace, ready to tie the knot. In the meantime, she was having more and more doubts about her own engagement.

She pointed at Lissa.

"We. Need. To. Talk. Later." She stated, then quickly exited. I pulled back from the embrace and looked at Lissa curious as to what Rose needed to talk about. She just shrugged like she had no idea. I brushed it off. It was probably just the usual drama.

* * *

Rpov

I had hoped I would have been able to talk to Lissa but seeing the happy couple I knew it would have to wait. As fate would have it, I ran into Dimitri in the main hall on my way out.

"You weren't at the gym this morning," he commented. I tried to read his face but his mask was on. Something was obviously wrong, and I could only guess the news had reached him too.

"No, sorry, I was woken up by lawyers arguing in my kitchen," I told him. He nodded, looking down at something near my crotch. Or on the side of it actually. The ring, damn it!

"Yes, I can guess you must have been very busy this morning. Good day, council member Hathaway." Was he trying to brush me off? What the even, heavenly fuck!

"Dimitri!" I called after him loud enough that it would cause a scene if he ignored me. "We need to talk." He raised a brow. Damn, why did it look so sexy when he did that?

"Do we? I don't think we have anything to talk of anymore." He turned around to leave, but I was getting angry now. I stormed up beside him, grabbed his arm, forcing him to follow me to a more private area.

"We need to talk about what happened the other day!" I hissed but his face remained stoic.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your fiancé." He practically spat at me. I held back the urge to roll my eyes.

"He already knows. Look I wanted to tell you-"

"Rose! There you are!" Just my luck, Rufus came stalking towards us at that moment. He glanced between me and Dimitri then smirked. "Am I interrupting?" I probably looked flustered, but Dimitri was calm enough for both of us.

"Not at all Prince Tarus, what can we do for you?" He asked politely. Rufus and Dimitri had never liked each other, but I was the only person that knew that. Anyone else would never be able to tell with the way they both smiled and greeted each other.

"Actually, it was Rose that I wanted to speak to, Guardian Belikov if you don't mind?" He looked back at me without waiting for an answer.

"We are having lunch tomorrow," he informed me. It wasn't unusual for Rufus to bark out his invitations like orders.

"Actually, I don't have time tomorrow. I am helping out a friend."

"Why, yes: Me!" He answered. I didn't like it, but I had to tell him no. I couldn't rearrange Mia's appointment, and she would need me there for moral support.

"I am sorry, I can't. Some other time." Now he was getting offended - I knew that dangerous spark in his eyes. Rufus was my friend. However, royal life had made him a spoiled brat. No wasn't a word he knew how to handle.

"Rose, I need you tomorrow at lunch. Not some other time." I shook my head but sighed. I couldn't afford another scene in front of Dimitri.

"Tonight? Or before dinner. I really don't have time tomorrow, Rufus." I begged. He seemed to calm down a little.

"Will you be at Mrs. Marianna Dorsov's dinner party tonight?" I nodded - everyone who was something would be there at that party.

He smiled satisfied. "Then I guess I will have to settle for that. But I will need to speak with you, Rose," there was a slight warning in his voice. I couldn't get out of this one: Whatever he wanted it was important.

"Of course Rufus, I will see you tonight."

He smiled tightly at us both. "Thank you, Rose. Good day guardian Belikov."

I sighed once he had wandered off and turned back to Dimitri. He was looking at me a little less stoic and a little more amused. "What?"

He raised a brow. "Of course Rufus, I will see you tonight." Was he mocking me!?

I growled: "You know what? I don't even know why I wanted to talk to you! You, insensitive, piece-of-shit!"

He shrugged slightly. "You are calling me insensitive? You kindly forgot to inform me about your relationship, when you jumped into bed with me," he threw at me.

I growled again. "I wasn't in a relationship! Adrian proposed last night, and I came here because idiot as I am I wanted to talk to you about it. Like you would give a shit."

His face was cold and emotionless. "To tell me that you said yes, no doubt. Well, I already figured that out, so you don't have to waste your time on me anymore." He was about to leave but I blocked his way.

"Get out of your head, would you?! We are having a prenup: Affairs are allowed, and he already knows about you. I may be getting married, but that doesn't mean we can't be together."

He was looking at me with an emotion I had never really seen in his eyes before. Was it disgust? "Yes, it does. I am not going to be your dirty secret."

I gaped at him. "Are you serious? Adrian is offering me happiness. Why can't you just be happy for me?!"

He laughed, but it wasn't a good laugh. "Happy for you? Happy for you? Are you even hearing yourself, Rose? You are getting married! To Adrian! And you want to, what, fuck me on the side? Have a little side action? And you expect me to be okay with that?" Okay so I hadn't really thought about that, but I still felt like he was blowing this out of proportion.

"Well, what is the alternative, Dimitri? I am offered a life with a future. A family. He isn't even asking me to give you up. What are you offering me, exactly? Nothing! You have offered me nothing, and yet you ask me to give this up. Give it up for what? To forever be your hook up, whenever it fits into your life? You are asking me to chose you when you aren't even ready to chose me!"

His beautiful face twisted into a scowl. "I am not ready to choose you? I shot someone for you, for god's sake! A friend, Rose, I shot one of my only friends for you. And it still wasn't enough. You are asking for too much. It isn't what I am for but what you are. You don't want us to work, you never have. I am starting to think, that the only reason you wanted this in the first place is that you couldn't have me!" Deidre had accused me of the same thing back in high school, but was it true? No, it wasn't. I wanted Dimitri because sparks every time we touched. Because he was my soul mate.

"That isn't true. I went to the other side of the world for you. I was willing to die for you! You rejected me! Remember that?" I cried.

He put his mask back on. "How can I forget, when you never fail to remind me."

I knew I wasn't making clever decisions right now, but I was hurt. I wasn't seeing clearly and suddenly felt very small and insignificant. "Screw you. Or actually, find someone else, because I am done! I can't do this anymore. We have been doing this for almost a decade and look where we are? Nowhere, fucking nowhere! So excuse me, but I am done!" And with that, I stormed off. I didn't get very far. I didn't even get out the emergency exit before the world turned black.

 **What do you think? I had this in the work for a while, but I wasn't quite sure how helpless I wanted to represent her.**


	13. The warning signals

D pov

My ego was getting in the way again, I knew that as I watched her walk away. She was walking away from me, again, and it was my own fault: I couldn't share, I had never been able to. Adrian might be okay with our affair, but I wasn't okay with their marriage. I should have walked away from her too, but I was busy memorizing everything about her one last time before she was out of my reach forever. Perhaps that was a lucky coincidence because if I hadn't, no one would have seen her fall.

The first thing I did was check for her pulse. I found it weak under my fingertips. Next, I scanned her for injury but found none. What on earth?

I looked around for her bodyguard, only to find that we were alone in the hallway. Something was wrong: Rose never went anywhere alone anymore. I didn't know where to take her. Maybe there was someone lurking right in the next hall. Maybe they were outside the emergency exit she had been headed for, or maybe they would be over us in a few moments. I didn't know, and I didn't have time to find out. Making a quick decision, I scooped her up in my arms and choose the nearest door, hoping no one would look for us in there.

It was a small study, with a lock on the door. I put her down on the sofa, then quickly turned the lock. If anyone tried to follow us, hopefully, the lock would delay them, at least long enough for us to escape. Pulling out my phone, I started with calling Croft for back-up. Then I called Christian to tell him not to leave the apartment.

Rose started to stir but she didn't wake up yet. It was just as well cause we would have to wait for a while until back up arrived. I mentally cursed myself for my attitude towards her. Someone was trying to kill her and I just wasting my time arguing with her.

* * *

R pov

At first, everything was just black then slowly things started happening around me. It was as if there was a heavy fog slowly starting to lift. In a few moemnts, I would able to see where I was.

I was down at the cells. How charming. Definitely not my dream then.

"Rose." A sharp voice caused me to turn around and stand eye to eye with Victor Dashkov. He looked older than the last time I saw him but not as sick. He was lacking his usual smirk, however, giving me a hunch about the nature of this visit.

I crossed my arms, already in defense mode. "You know making people pass out isn't really a friendly move."

He seemed confused. "We didn't... Spirit can't make someone pass out over distance. Robert sensed you were available and set this up. If you have passed out, then you should, perhaps, visit a doctor when you wake up." His voice was so factual, it was like a commercial urging people to visit their doctor more often.

"Whatever. Do you have my mole?"

His smirk returned slightly. "Do you have my way in?"

"I may have something, but you are not going to like it."

He shrugged as if it didn't matter. "If it gets me in then I am up for it. However, you are not getting the information I have before after the quest. I am not about to be screwed over, but this couldn't wait." If Victor was prepared to rush something, then it was definitely serious. It was better not to play games and just listen.

"What is it?" He looked at me for a long minute. There was something in that look that I couldn't quite figure out what was. Pity? No, that didn't make sense. Why would Victor, Dashkov, pity me?

"Don't trust anyone Rose. Especially not your friends. This is deeper than we thought." Something about that sent chills down my spine. My friends. That was a lot of people, but his warning indicated it was someone in the inner circle. That meant however it was, it was going to hurt, in more than one way.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I will call you once I have everything set up."

He nodded seeming confident all of a sudden. "I know you will. You need the name to move forward. Rose... I am truly sorry." I just nodded. I was too. This wasn't what I had hoped for. Then again, what kind of news does one hope for when being targeted?

The dream faded and everything was back to black.

* * *

D pov

She was finally coming around. We were still stuck in the study, but I could hear guardians roaming the hallways, clearing out the palace.

"What is the time?" I chuckled. Her first question was about the bloody clock.

"It is a little past two, we have been here for a while." She flew up from the sofa.

"Past two?! I have to get ready. Geeeezz, I do not have time for this." She was wandering around looking for her shoes. I had taken them off to offer her some comfort while she was out. Slowly, careful not to startle her, I reached for them then handed them to her. She snatched them in a fluid motion and quickly put them on.

"Roza relax. You just passed out and the palace is being cleared by the royal guard. You aren't going anywhere right now." She stopped closing the strap and looked up at me with wide eyes.

"The palace is being cleared? Why?" I didn't know where to start. She was so out of it and there were so many details.

I placed my hand on her knee. Even now, the touch sent electricity through my body. I could never truly be without her, I knew that in my heart, but I couldn't be with her either. Not on the conditions she had set up.

"They'll be done soon, don't worry. Roza, does this happen often?" Her entire body made a sudden leap back. She turned to stare at me startled.

"I... I don't know what you mean." I wasn't getting anywhere with her, not when she was like this. I knew that attitude. It was the one she used when she had something to hide. She had used it at the academy and she was still using it.

"Roza, I want to help you. You are carrying too many secrets."

She glared at me. It was so intense I could feel the slight burn of it. "You don't get to play my shrink right after rejecting me. I am out of here." I tried stopping her, but she dodged my attempt to grab her and stormed out of the door. I tried to follow her, then I saw the palace guardians were already busy clearing her and briefing her about the situation. She would be fine for now, I was certain. What would happen later on I didn't know, but right now my top priority was making sure she was safe, even if she was being ridiculously mad at me.

* * *

R pov

Dinner parties were always terribly exhausting. Simply keeping count on who you had talked to and when was a struggle, and you had to make sure no one felt neglected. What made things worse was that everyone wanted to speak to us about our recent engagement. Adrian's parents were, of course, all over us. Several of Adrian's old flames were trying to put me down, and I had a feeling some of them were more recent flames than he would ever admit. I had tried to cling onto Jesse when he came to congratulate us, but Adrian quickly swept me away to talk to Michaela and her husband Conrad.

I sighed relieved when I finally got to close the door. It would be a short break but at least I could finally breathe again. The light blue dress I was wearing was killing me. It was satin, a terrible choice in fabric and it fit tighter than a glove. I had initially given up on ever wearing it, it had been one of those when-I-loose-ten-pounds things, but Adrian had insisted that I'd wear it for tonight.

Rufus kindly handed me a glass of the red wine he had just popped open. I had a feeling he would have liked to retreat to the study, not the wine cellar, but Mr. Dorsov had chosen to use the study as a gentlemen's room so it was this or a guestroom and we didn't want to spark rumors.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" I finally asked. Rufus leaned against the wall and loosened his butterfly.

"I heard you were responsible for the security for the tryouts." Oh no, not this again!

"I am..."

"Could you get me a copy of the plans? I need to be prepared the best I can for these quests."

I couldn't help a snort. "First of all, that is cheating. Secondly, I don't know what the quests are, I just handle the security. Even if I did, you aren't the only friend I have running for the crown."

He smiled sadistically. "No, but you better hope I take the crown and not Vasilisa."

I frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He made a nonchalant throw of his wine. "Nothing, just that your friend may have a different agenda than you think."

This was starting to bother me. He was insinuating something about Lissa, but I wasn't following. "I know Lissa, she is a good person."

"I didn't say she wasn't, just that her motives aren't entirely pure. If you can, sway this to my advantage. It will be in your own best interest."

Now I was getting angry. How dare he? "Lissa is my bond-mate. I would know if she was plotting something."

Rufus looked at me intensely, like he was trying to read me. His grey eyes had taken a darker green shade in this lightening but they were dancing with lighter treads. "That is what you think, but tell me Rose: Have you even had time to feel anything but yourself recently?" He struck a nerve and he knew it. I didn't have time to deal with anything lately, not with trouble arising every five minutes. I should have been mingling, making alliances and presenting my latest plans but instead, I was repeatedly being thrown off by these attacks.

"What do you know?" He had answers, I could feel it, but there was something about Rufus tonight. Something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Perhaps it was because tonight, for the first time in a long time, he was acting like the old Rufus. Like the Rufus I knew would one day make an excellent king.

"Nothing yet, not for sure. I care about you, Rose, you are one of my only real friends in this world. Please, be careful. We have to look out for each other."

I was about to answer when the sound of footsteps on the stairs made us jump. A nice tux, followed by Jesse Zeklos handsome face appeared. "Are you two having a party without the rest of us?" He asked jokingly. I laughed and held up my wineglass.

"Indeed we are. Would you like to join?" He smirked like a cat about to eat a mouse.

"Do I ever? Rose, you vixen!" He grabbed a glass and poured from the bottle Rufus offered him. "Shouldn't you be up there, celebrating your engagement?" He asked with a knowing smile.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I am sure there is being celebrated plenty without me. Besides, we aren't the only couple celebrating tonight."

His eyes lit up. "No that is true. Vasilisa and Christian are finally tying the knot. Tell me please: How does a man like Christian, choose such an adorable ring? Mia was about to die when she saw it. I hate him a little bit for setting the standard so high." I smirked and took a little sip.

"You like it? We thought it was rather perfect." I didn't think too much of my word choice, but both men burst out laughing.

"I knew Ozera didn't have that kind of taste! You chose it, didn't you?" I couldn't keep one corner from turning up in a half smile.

"Don't tell Lissa." He made a gesture as to indicate his lips were sealed. We joked for a bit, then Rufus excused himself, he had to go mingle for the sake of the election. Jesse called out to him until he was out of hearing reach, then he turned to me, dead serious.

"Rose, I did some digging: It is a big mess. I am not sure who is involved with who yet, but here is what I got: A guardian named Mikhail Tanner used his access to the main router to download all digital information about you, and I mean ALL. He knows everything that is layered and filed in the system. Whoever he is, he is your enemy." I knew Mikhail: He was Sonya's ex, and he had helped me before. Why was he retrieving information about me? Was this the friend Victor had warned me about? "There is more:" Jesse seemed to be in a hurry telling me this, as he kept checking the stairs to see if someone was on their way down here. "Someone else with access to the same computer that Mikhail used, downloaded your emails again - that is how they got leaked. I don't know who it was yet, but it is a small list. I am working on it." More enemies - how wonderful! "One last thing:" More? He was looking at me with his big worried grey-blue eyes. "You can't marry Adrian Ivashkov. I can't tell you why, not yet, but you can't, so whatever you do: Don't sign anything!" I opened my mouth to ask him why, but he was already running up the stairs.

I was left alone and confused. What was with everybody?! I gulped the rest of the wine and went upstairs after Jesse. It was no use sitting here alone. As I got closer to the top of the stairs, I felt the shadows moving in on me. Something was wrong, the world was spinning and it wasn't just because of the wine. I fought it back until I was back in the hall. Then I couldn't hold it any longer and I collapsed against the wall. The last thing I registered was two, strong arms grabbing me and a voice with a slight Russian accent talking in my ear. "It is okay, I got you. I got you."

 **Okay, so I ended two chapters with a black-out. Sorry, not sorry! A lot of you commented on the last chapter and I love it, keep it up! To answer the most repeated question: Is Rose acting horribly? Yes. Is there an explanation? Also yes. Will it be in the next chapter? Probably.**

 **Love you!**


	14. The loyal betrayal

**Disclaimer: I don't own VA. Also, thank you to everyone who reviews, it means a lot!**

R pov

I woke up to the cold night-air hitting my face. Or perhaps it was the morning air if you weren't a vampire. My body was being moved up and down in calming movements. I was being carried, I realized. By someone strong. Someone with a nice aftershave. I just wanted to snuggle closer to the chest that my head was resting against, but there was a small, annoying part of my brain that told me I might want to find out who was carrying me. There was a slight chance that it might be a kidnapper. Did I care if I was being kidnapped? Maybe. Was it worth ruining the comfortable position I was in now? Meh.

I decided that if I really was being kidnapped, it was better not to reveal that I was awake. I slowly opened one eye to take a peek at the person carrying me. When I saw that it wasn't a kidnapper but rather a hot, tall, Russian, I decided to let him know that I was awake.

"You know, I do have legs," I subtly pointed out.

I could feel a laughter rumble in his chest. He strangled it before it left his lips. "Do you have a key as well? Because we will be at your father's house in a minute."

I thought about it. "Did you grab my purse?"

"No."

"Then no, I don't have a key," I paused, "if you promise not to tell anyone: There is one under the ashtray outside."

He glanced down at me. I could guess what he was thinking: How terribly irresponsible. "Hey, it is not like anyone knows it is there!" I defended. He didn't say anything, but I could see a smile tugging at his lips. When we reached the door he let me down so I could fetch the key. It took me a moment to realize he hadn't followed me.

"You are not leaving, are you?" I asked, feeling a bit offended. He had carried me home! He couldn't just leave.

"Well, I got you home safely. My charge is still at the dinner party."

I pouted. It was a dirty trick, but sometimes it worked on him. At least it used to. "My guard didn't follow us home: I would be all alone in there. I am sure Christian will understand that you couldn't just leave me by myself - besides, it is daylight. Please, come inside," I begged. He looked conflicted for a brief moment. Then he hesitantly took a few steps up the stairs.

"You have a fiancé," he stated. It wasn't exactly a no, more like he was asking permission.

"Do I? Then how come he isn't here?" I asked innocently.

His eyes darkened. "He will be soon - I should go."

I panicked and grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving."No! Please, stay with me! Adrian doesn't even live here. He is staying at his parents' house. Please, I don't want to be alone." I wasn't below pleading if it got him to stay. Finally, it looked like he was caving in.

"Your father isn't home?" I shook my head. Abe had business elsewhere. After that Dimitri behaved like a doll: He didn't move on his own, but when I opened the door to pull him in with me, he followed willingly.

I brought him upstairs to my bedroom. "Should I get you another duvet?" He shook his head without taking his eyes off me.

"It is a double, I am sure we can share it." I smiled and nodded then went into my father's closet to find something he could sleep in. Abe was as fabulous when he was sleeping as he was when he was awake. Everything was nicely fitted to him: I couldn't find anything that would fit Dimitri. Disappointed, I had to return to my own bedroom. Maybe I had something in my closet. I already knew I didn't but I would check anyway.

As I entered, I saw Dimitri was holding something really tiny between his fingers. It was the other ring that Adrian had given me. I had taken it off to draw more attention to the big one and carelessly left it on my bedside table.

"Please, put that away," I asked him. He turned it over in his hand and studied it closely. Then, thankfully, he did what I asked. "I couldn't find anything in my dad's closet, but I am going to see if I have anything in mine that will fit you," I quickly excused myself, but he grabbed my hand as I was about to leave.

"I can sleep in my boxers. Let's go to sleep: You shouldn't even be up." He was right, I shouldn't, but I couldn't quite get myself to sleep beside him. It was silly: I was the one who had dragged him in there. But seeing the ring made me realize that I was in fact engaged to someone else.

"We are just going to sleep," I stated as if to assure him of my pure intentions. He nodded and reached for me, slowly unzipping my dress for me.

"It is no wonder you fainted wearing that thing," he commented when he felt how tight it was. I blushed - this was getting embarrassing.

"I didn't plan on wearing it. I was going to wear something velvet, but..." I trailed off. For some reason, I didn't want him to know Adrian had picked out the blue dress. He tilted my chin up and placed a light kiss on my lips. It was short but lingering and it took my breath away. Then he pulled away and went to bed. He laid down under the covers, indicating that we were, in fact, going to sleep. I kept my bra on, as if not to tempt him any further then slipped under the covers as well. It felt awkward until I felt his arm snake around my waist. Smiling a little to myself I took his hand and pulled him closer to me, taking his hand in both of mine.

* * *

I woke up and lazily gazed at the alarm clock on my bedside table. "FUCK!" I flew out of bed and pulled on the first pair of jeans I found laying around.

"I am pretty sure we didn't." It was the sound of his deep groggy voice that reminded me of last night. I turned around and attempted a smile.

"No, sorry. I, eh, have to go, but you just go back to sleep." He smiled at me. God was he beautiful when he smiled.

"You do know that we are at your place right?" Oh no, he didn't think I was trying to run off, did he?

"I know. I wasn't, eh- this was great. I liked this. Thank you for staying with me, really, but I have to go. I promised Mia, and it really can't wait..." He looked at the clock then raised a brow.

"It is just past noon. Rose, you have only slept a couple of hours, come back here." I wanted to. I wanted to so badly, but I couldn't.

"We have to go. We have an appointment, one in the human world. But please, call me or something. I would like to do this again, I just-"

"Really have to go?"

I nodded feeling gutted. "Yeah."

He nodded towards the door. "Go, I'll catch you later."

I felt a smile take over my face. "Thank you! And thank you for last night, for carrying me home like that. That was very heroic," I told him, almost out the door.

"You should hire better security. I could have been a kidnapper!" He called after me. He was right, someone could have snatched me from that party and my bodyguard couldn't have noticed. Berk and I were going to have a talk about that tomorrow, or today when I returned. Right now, I had to take care of Mia.

Luckily Eylem was already up and ready for our trip. He was slowly sipping his coffee at the front door.

"Got a visitor?" He asked knowingly.

I huffed and brushed past him. "Shut up."

He didn't say anything but just smiled. We ran most of the way to the garage where Mia was waiting for us with a packed bag.

"Oh thank god! I was starting to think you forgot!" She exclaimed. Her hair was in a messy bun and she was wearing comfy boyfriend jeans and a white t-shirt.

"Sorry! Someone wouldn't let me leave the bed," I apologized. She rolled her eyes at me.

"I can imagine. Is he coming?" She pointed at Eylem.

"Yeah, he has to. Don't worry, he doesn't know anything," I whispered back. We got in the back of the car and Eylem drove us out through the guarded gates. The Guardian on duty recognized me and greeted us.

"Council member Hathaway! It is an honor."

I smiled at him and took back my passport. "Please, just call me Rose - everyone else does."

His smiled widened. "Rose... It is an honor. Thank you for your service." It was always a pleasure to meet other dhampirs who appreciated my work.

"The honor is all mine. I get so caught up in politics I rarely have the chance to talk to real people. What is your name?" He beamed with pride. This was starting to get a little embarrassing for me.

"Guardian Jhonson, but please call me Link - all my friends do."

"It is nice to meet you, Link. If there was one thing you could change, what would it be?" He seemed to think about it for a while then he answered sincerely:

"Honestly, miss? I would make the shifts shorter. It is hard to do a twelve-hour shift every day, stay in shape and not live off junk food."

"I'll see what I can do. It was nice talking to you, Link. Have a good day."

He wished us well on our journey and let us through the gates.

"Do you always do that? Spend a little extra time on the guardians?" Mia asked me curiously. I shrugged.

"Not as much as I would like to, but I try. When I first got my seat on the council I had a finger on the pulse: I knew all about the guardians work conditions. Now, it is hard to recall. Sometimes, I can't help but feel this world has spoiled me." I had always thought royals were stuck up and narcissistic, but the more time went by, the more I understood how easy it was to forget there was a world out there that had to provide for themselves. It was one of the things that made me long for my old life: I felt like I was becoming more selfish for each day.

"How long is it?" She asked nervously.

"It is a two-hour drive. The doctor that will be executing the procedure is doing us a favor. She normally only works during the human day, but he had agreed to do it after five," I told her calmly. We were seeing a moroi doctor that had specialized in humans, as that was the bigger market.

"It a private clinic, they don't report to the state. They promised me not to file anything, and even they do it will be under a fake name. While we are here, your name is Marlene Skipper. The doctor is paid upfront in cash. You don't have to worry about anything."

She reached out to grab my hand. When I looked at her I was surprised to find her eyes full of unshed tears. "Thank you, Rose. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

I gave her hand a small squeeze. "You saved my life once upon a time. I don't like to think there is any debt between us. You are my friend Mia, you and Jesse both." It was the truth, I trusted Mia and Jesse, but even as I said it, Victor's voice rang in my ear. _Don't trust anyone, especially not your friends_.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Mia and I tried to get some sleep while Eylem drove. When we finally arrived in the right town, I asked him to take a drive and do something else. He was reluctant about leaving me but eventually drove off. I was his boss after all. Mia would need a lot of space and privacy, and I didn't want to risk this getting out. We were the last visitors today, and Dr. Haustien greeted us herself.

"Miss Hathaway! It is good to see you again. This must be Miss Skipper?" She asked kindly and shook Mia's hand. Mia smiled politely but sent me a sideways glance. As we entered the office, she elbowed me slightly.

"Again?" She asked me quietly.

"Doctor Haustein helped me with my irregular periods. She knows female anatomy better than anyone, especially our kind..." She relaxed. Whatever it was from me having firsthand experience with this doctor, or from not having been in a similar situation I didn't know.

"Alright, ladies. It is a rather simple procedure. First, we take a look with the ultrasound. If you don't want to see it, you don't have to," she assured Mia thoughtfully. "Then, I will inject a serum directly into your uterus which makes your body reject the fetus. It takes a little under an hour to perform during which you will be awake. Now, some women like to take the fetus with them to burry at home..." Mia's usually pale face had taken a green shade. It was painful to hear about, and I wouldn't even be enduring it.

"If you take care of it, that will be fine." I adviced. Mia nodded slightly. Dr. Haustein sent her a smile that looked a tiny bit misplaced on her stern face.

"Well, lets, get to it then. Please sign here and there." Mia took the form she was offered and scanned it through. It was pretty standard, but as with all medical procedures, it was scary.

"Rose, I... I need to tell you something," she confessed to me as she signed it with a shaking hand. The name on the blanket was Marlene Skipper, but luckily Mia's signature was so unreadable it didn't matter. It spilled out over the line and looked like a messy spill of ink.

"You can tell me later. We have time." I didn't like confessions from scarred or dying people. They said a lot of shit that they were going to regret later on. Her quivering lower lip told me this was something big. While I was dying of curiosity, I also didn't want her to regret telling me. She kept gazing at me with big fearful eyes while she followed the doctor out the door. As the door closed I felt my own anxiety arise. It was a very low-risk procedure, but I felt sorry she had to go through it.

Deciding I should make the most of the time I pulled out my phone and for the second time that week, I called Victor Dashkov.

* * *

Cpov

The lock quirked a little when I turned the key. It had been days since I used it last, in a way I felt like an intruder in my own home. Everything was quiet inside, and it gave an abandoned vibe. I live here I reminded myself although I felt the hair on my neck rise, this was my home. I didn't get very far. The sound of the safety-lock of a gun, being switched off made me freeze in my tracks.

"Turn around slowly, hands where I can see them," a voice ordered. I did so and came face to face with Eddie Castle.

"Eddie?" He frowned and lowered the gun.

"Chris? Geeze, what are you doing here?" I raised both brows at him.

"I live here?" The corner of his lips tugged a little upwards. It was sad that they all got so emotionless after a few years service. Thank god Rose was in politics, I couldn't imagine her with such a poker face all the time. Rose, with a face told everything her mouth didn't, not that there was much left.

"No, you don't. You live in the castle until someone tells you otherwise. You should have asked guardian Croft if you needed to access the house." Was he serious? Did I need permission to enter my own house?

"Well, I am here. Can I go get a few things?" He nodded and urged me towards the stairs.

"Sure, I'll take you."

As any trained guardian, Eddie stood by the door while I scrambled around. I grabbed my running gear and a few extra things that I had missed. Two new tuxes as there would be too many dinners the following week. It wasn't necessary to turn on the light - it was still daylight outside. I was only up at this hour because Lissa had been very active in her sleep lately. It was a retuning issue whenever she had something on her mind. Remembering my beautiful fiancé and your upcoming future, I remembered I had the drawings of a family tree stocked away in the closet. I hadn't wanted to look at it ever since Tasha, but now things were looking up again. I would be having children of my own in a few years: I wanted them to know where they came from, even if some of the histories were on the darker side. I slid the door to the built-in closet aside. Lissa had her own walk in, and I had this. Sometimes though, things that didn't fit in anywhere would make its way into my closet. I usually didn't mind, except that now it made it impossible to find the storage box I needed. None of them were marked; I would have to open each one. Most held shoes, old pictures and such. There were four boxes left to check when I stumbled across something I didn't recognize. I had been tempted not to open it. Something about it screamed insignificance, yet it wasn't different from the other boxes. I might as well take a look. There were notes, parchment, maps, drawings. Curiosity got the better of me: I scanned them to figure out what they were. Most of them had datestamps: From two years ago and up until recently. Why would Lissa keep recent projects in the closet? I took a better look at it and then threw it on the floor like it was a snake. "What the-"

Eddie came over to see what had startled me. He too froze suddenly. "Fuck," he finished off my sentence. I felt the goosebumps from before return tenfold. This changed everything.

* * *

Rpov

The silence was thick. I had no idea what to say. I wasn't going to ask her about the procedure. Mia took one shaky breath after the other. Her breath made little clouds in the air. It wasn't that cold, but I had a feeling some of it was water she had unconsciously used to calm herself. I didn't want to ask if she was okay: I knew she wasn't.

"Eylem will be here shortly," I told her, cringing a little at the brisk sounding statement. I wanted to be compassionate, but this was new territory. I only knew what Jesse told me, and that was enough that I didn't want to dig anymore into it.

She kept taking deep breaths. I was afraid she was fighting back a panic attack. "Rose, I really need to tell you something."

I glanced at her and sighed. "Yeah, you do." I didn't like confessions anymore than I liked the warnings I had gotten lately, but Mia seemed hellbent on telling me whatever it was that was weighing down on her chest.

"You can't tell anyone. I am not a monster, Rose." She wasn't crying, but she wasn't in a good state either. Her voice was shaking but persistent. It clear that she was determined to tell me this.

I gave her a brief nod to let her know she could continue.

She leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I killed Tatiana Ivashkov."


	15. The turn of the return

**Okay, this chapter is on the longer side! It took forever to get done, and I had to rewrite some passages a few times. I apologize on beforehand for errors: I have read it several times in different programs, and this is the best I can do.**

 **I hope you enjoy it: The purpose of this chapter is to sort a few things out before we dig into the juicy part, which is yet to come.**

Cpov

It might have seen as a lucky coincidence that we were there when the black Audi R8 pulled over the stone-covered yard. The stones made a loud complaint when the wheels of the impressive beast pulled over. The sound made the car seem oddly misplaced. It was a dream car - the real world didn't suit it. A man in a black suit jumped out to open the passenger door but the person inside had already strung it open. A pair of black leather ankle boots connected to a long slim leg covered by a black jean material landed on the pavement. They supported the tiny yet intimidating figure that gracefully left the car. Her long, dark hair hung in waves over her shoulders and framed around her black sunglasses. She gave an instruction to the man in the black suit turned to help another figure out of the car.

Mia's beige cotton coat, white T-shirt and comfortable jeans stood in contrast to Rose's short black Burberry trenchcoat and sharp and chic look. Side by side they looked like a charity case and a fashion designer. The way Mia clung to Rose only supported the comparison. Clearly, something big had happened between them. It almost made me abandon my mission. Almost. But I hadn't been waiting for her here all morning to back out now. Like I said: It might _seem_ like a lucky coincidence, but it wasn't.

"Rose!" She turned towards me calmly. If she was surprised, she hid it well. Then, of course, the sunglasses did give her an advantage. "I need to talk to you!" Her lips made a small curl. Clearly, she was dissatisfied. Mia retreated towards the door. Perhaps she trying to give us a minimum of privacy.

"I don't have time right now Chris - you have to wait." She rarely brushed someone off like that. Again, I almost backed out, almost.

"It can't wait, trust me. You need to hear this." Sighing deeply she cast a glance back at Mia.

"Will you be alright?" Mia nodded. She made a small throw of her head towards Rose's bodyguard.

"I'll be fine. Eylem can help with my things then I'll call Jesse to come to pick me up." Rose gave her a short nod, then turned to me again with a sigh.

"Alright then, carry away Sparky." I motioned for her to follow me and lead her around the building to a private corner of a hallway on the other side of the yard. She tipped her sunglasses up. I instantly saw dark lines under her eyes. She looked tired but ready for a serious conversation. "Christian what is it?" She asked me impatiently, making impatient twitches of her foot. The boot clicked loudly on the floor.

"I am really sorry Rose." She looked up at me confused. For some reason, my presence had been enough to distract her from our new surroundings. It was quite lucky. Otherwise, I don't think Eddie would have been able to get a good enough hold of her to keep her still until she fell unconscious. I sighed and looked at the limp form. "Is she okay?" He nodded and checked her pulse.

"She will be fine. Take her legs - we need to get her out of here before someone notices." I grabbed a hold of each slim ankle as he asked. Eddie checked that the coast was clear over his shoulder. Then he lifted her quickly over the street and into the backseat of the open car. He jumped in beside her while I jumped in on the passenger seat up front. Dimitri looked at the limp figure with a disapproving frown.

"Was it really necessary to knock her out?" He asked concerned.

I shrugged. "No one came up with a better suggestion. How do we get her out?" He gripped the steering wheel tighter and tried to avoid a hole in the pavement.

"If they ask we say she is trying to catch some sleep. They know she has been gone for most of the night. We tell them that we are on our way to a meeting with the GOP. They will let us through: Prince Taurus left for the same meeting less than an hour ago." I nodded and looked back at her and Eddie. As soon as we got through the gate, Eddie was tying her up to prevent her from running. Then hopefully, when she woke up, we would get a chance to sort things out.

* * *

R pov

 _I had the weirdest sense of dejavú. It took me a while to figure out it was because I was replaying the events of this morning in my dream._

 _Mia and I were still sitting on the bench, waiting for Eylem to pick us up._

 _"I assume you had a good reason?" I asked without looking at her._

 _"She was always so mean to me. To everyone, really, but especially to people who didn't fit into the old world. People like us." I knew what she meant. Tatiana had been a traditionalist. That didn't mean I had considered killing her trough. People were mean, you couldn't kill all of them. "You were never mean, Rose. No matter how much time you spend in that world I have never experienced you being mean or cruel." I couldn't help but think that was because we rarely saw each other. "Then one day, I accidentally overheard a conversation between her and Adrian." I wanted to interrupt her and ask her what the hell Adrian was doing there and what part he played in this, but I figured it was better to let her tell her story first. "No one was supposed to be there. She had even ordered her servants out. The things she described, it was horrible. I was already," she paused and searched for the right word, "carrying this problem. Only, I didn't know it yet. It was the things she said that suddenly made me think that maybe I wasn't..." She trailed off without saying the actual word. "I haven't told Jesse this: But I don't remember how it happened. I just woke up in a hotel bed, without my clothes on and I just assumed the rest. She put that in me, Rose. I am, entirely, convinced that she put that thing in me, and I-" She paused again while I tried to wrap my head around it. Had Tatiana, forcefully, inseminated Mia with a fertilized egg? Was Adrian aware? Why would she want to do that? Why Mia?_

 _"Mia, I am sorry but I am not following." I needed her to tell me before I started assuming too many things. She looked at me with tear-filled eyes._

 _"She had it all planned. She made it sound hypothetical but everything she said fit with my experience. I don't know how she did it, but she got two donors and put it together. She wanted a 'true royal' and needed a surrogate. It was disgusting. I have never felt so violated not even right after..." I nodded. She didn't need to tell me - I knew what she meant._

 _"It is disgusting," I assured her. "So, you murdered her?" Mia pulled herself together at the mentioning of the murder. Something in her woke up. I couldn't decide whatever I was frightened or proud of that reaction._

 _"Not right away. I wanted to strangle her, but I know I couldn't. I had been so out of it since the... Violation. Suddenly I saw clearly. I knew I could get access to the kitchen every day right before they served her afternoon tea. So, I just had to get a moment with the teapot when no one looked to slip in the poison." I grimaced. Knowing it and hearing about it was two different things._

 _"Where did you get the poison from?" In general, guns were easier to get than poison. At court, you probably had a better shot at stumbling across explosives._

 _"From Rufus Tarus." She was so nonchalant about it, it was chilling._

 _"Rufus?_ _Why did Rufus supply you with poison?" I asked, still not quite believing her story._

 _"He didn't. Not directly. We had a short conversation about the beneficial effects of nightshade, and then he told me he was experimenting with foxglove in his garden. He used the digitals in medicine for his bad heart, but he had to contract it first and so I asked if he would mind delivering some of it to me. He was happy about helping me, of course, he didn't know who I was about to murder, but if he knew what she was about to do I think he would have been just as happy to help..." Her eyes widened._ _"That is the other part, I forgot to tell you. Tatiana wanted to get you out of the way. She thought you were in the way of her big plan-"_

 _"Her big plan?"_

 _She shrugged._ _"I never found out what it was. She wanted to get rid of you, but Adrian convinced her that he could control you. that way it would be in her advantage to have you as a guaranteed vote on the council. I don't think it was entirely well-spun arguments that got her convinced..." So Adrian had compelled Tatiana to let me live. How romantic *sarcasm*. Except that he hadn't told me and also apparently had been manipulating me for weeks, maybe months. So much for wanting to spend the rest of our lives together._

 _"Hold for a minute: Adrian knew what she did to you and didn't interfere?" I was starting to get sick. I trusted Mia, she had no reason to lie, but this was all too much._

 _"No, she made it sound like it hadn't happened yet, but I think it did. I think I was her first victim, like a lab rat. He talked against it Rose, he did. He really tried to talk her out of murdering you and the race purification. He was fighting for your love," she tried to convince me Adrian really was a good person. It worked the other way. Why hadn't he told me? Tatiana was dead now, there was nothing to lose. Unless of course, Adrian was still pulling the strings._

 _"Was anyone else involved?" She shook her head._

 _"I put it her afternoon tea every day. I expected it to take at least a few months but she only lasted a couple of weeks. When I found out I was pregnant she was already dead." Suddenly I felt blessed, at least I only had assassins to deal with._

 _"And the plan, her plan?_ _" I was having a hard time wrapping my head around Tatiana being an evil tyrant. We had never gotten along, but at some point, I at least considered her a decent person. That illusion was gone now._

 _"I don't know who else was involved but it wasn't just Adrian. He couldn't have stopped it singlehanded. That is why I had to tell you, Rose, I think her plan is still in action, and you might be in danger." No kidding. Did Mia know how many times I had had to run for my life?_

 _"I don't know what to say," I admitted. Committing murder was wrong: However, killing an awful person seemed to serve some kind of justice. I used to kill monsters for a living so who was I to judge?_

 _"You shouldn't say anything. I did it for both of us, Rose, but mostly for you. In the beginning, I just wanted revenge but when I found out what she was planning to do to you... I just couldn't let her." To some extent that might have been true. She did it for herself but maybe she thought of me as well. Was it weird that I felt touched? Also terrified, since one of my closest friends had committed high treason, and gotten away with it, but never had I felt so loved. I only had one last question._

 _"Does Jesse know?" She seemed to have recovered from her momentary breakdown. She whipped her tears with the edge of her sleeve then calmly answered._

 _"Yeah, he does. How do you think I got around the staff?"_

* * *

When I came through, someone was lightly stroking my hair. I looked up into two familiar chocolate colored eyes. It took me a few moments to remember the events of the last twelve hours. Passing out at the dinner party, Dimitri carrying me home, taking Mia to the doctor, getting involved in high treason, Christian doublecrossing me and Eddie knocking me out. Oh, right.

"I fucking hate you." I tried to sneer, but it came out more like a mumble.

He chuckled. It was a warm, full sound. I hated it. "And she is back. How are you feeling?" He asked me, his voice held something resembling concern.

"Betrayed," I stated, as a matter of fact. I looked around, trying to get a picture of where we were. It was a low-budget hotel room. Couldn't they have chosen a fancier place to kill me? Was that too much to ask?

His face took a pained expression. I could see that he didn't particularly like the situation, but was that really my problem? Not when he was helping them kill me, it wasn't! "It isn't what you think it is."

I tried to raise a brow but failed. Oh, what the hell, they got the point! "Isn't it? I have to admit: I should have known Christian was involved, but I am surprised about the two of you." I looked around the room of grim-looking men. Dimitri was sitting beside me with a first aid kit open. Eddie was standing by the door with his arms crossed and regarded the scene with a look of stern uncertainty.

Christian was the one to take the word. He stood by the bathroom door and wore a cautious expression. "Rose, we don't want to hurt you. We just had to get you away from court. There isn't an easy way to say this-" he paused. Maybe he was trying to read me, or maybe he was lost for words.

"Oh for the lord of god, just get it over with! You have brought me here to kill me, or erase my mind, make me disappear. Whatever, just do it, Chris." I spat. This wasn't how I had planned to go down, but heck if this was it, then it might as well be quick. "You are coward, do you know that? First, you go on three against one, but when it comes down to it you can't even pull the damn trigger!"

"Rose, we aren't trying to fucking kill you!" Eddie exclaimed. He was getting tired of watching this ridiculous scene, frankly so was I. I would have expected one of the others to yell, but calm and introvert Eddie surprised me. Not enough that I had to catch my jaw, but still enough that I calmed down slightly.

"Really? Because you could have fooled me." Dimitri tried to move closer to me, but I stopped him with a glare.

"Rose," Christian sat down across from me on the hotel bed, far enough that I couldn't reach him without Dimitri catching me first. Coward. "I don't know how to tell you this, so I am just going to jump into it. I went looking for something in my house this morning when I came across a box I wasn't supposed to find. It was a bunch of very detailed plans and there was no doubt they were Lissa's. What I am trying to say is: Lissa is planning something big, something rather terrifying, and part of her plan is to take you out. She is behind the attacks, and it looks like she had a lot of help."

"And how do I know you are not lying? You just kidnapped me! Perhaps this is just a show to turn me against her? Maybe you are plotting something evil. You don't have a very good track record, Sparky." Which was true, yet I already knew he was telling the truth. Or at least I thought so. Truth be told, I didn't know what was real anymore. My head was spinning: Everything I thought, I knew, had been questioned in the past seventy-two hours. Were my friends even my friends? Perhaps this was just a conspiracy to turn me against Lissa. During normal circumstances: I would have thought so, but nothing had been normal lately. There was still one thing which had really started to bother me since my talk with Rufus: Lissa was blocking me, knowingly. I couldn't force my way through which meant one thing: She was hiding something big.

"I haven't hurt you yet have I? Rose-"

"Roza," Dimitri took over from Christian and placed a hand on my shoulder. When I didn't shrug it off, he sat beside me on the bed. "you know, I wouldn't have allowed this if I didn't truly believe it to be true."

I couldn't help the laughter that escaped my throat. "Really comrade? You know you aren't very trustworthy anymore right?" His eyes lost the affection they held just a moment ago.

"You are in danger Rose, and I truly believe Christian when he says Lissa is behind it. He loved her, why else would he do this?" I studied them all for a minute. I trusted these men, at least I used to. All of them had a least on one occasion saved my life. I leaned against the wall and sighed.

"Alright, I believe you. What are you going to about it?"

"Really? Just like that, you believe us?"

I gave in with a sigh. "Yeah, believe it or not, but you guys ain't my only friends. I have gotten warnings about this for a couple of days now, but I didn't want to believe it." If a hundred people told you the same thing, did that make it was true? Or was it just a common lie then? I had to take a chance on this.

"Who else knows?" Christian asked, a little more eager.

"Jesse, Rufus, Victor-" I was about to list the entire team, but one name had thrown Christian off.

"Dashkov?" He asked in disbelief. Not because it was hard to believe Victor knew, but rather that he had warned me. I could barely believe it myself, but I had seen crazier things. I thought back to the first time we took Victor down. He was all about the cause, but he wasn't pure evil. Only partly evil and he was right: We were fighting for the same thing. Only our methods were different. And I wasn't with him, but I might not be against him either.

I nodded. "Yeah, long story. I called him back when I thought he was behind the attacks. Then it turned out he wasn't, and now he is doing me a favor." I explained. Even as the words left my mouth, they sounded crazy.

Christian looked at me doubtfully. "You are in debt to Victor?"

"No, the debt has already been settled. He came with a warning a few days ago. Then yesterday, Rufus told me to be cautious of Lissa, so yeah I already knew," I confessed.

"You knew? And you were still pushing me to marry her?!" Oh, he was getting mad. Then I suppose we were going somewhere with this conversation, finally.

"Hey, chill, I only just found out. I was going to tell you, once I had figured out what was really going on." 'Chill' was not the word he wanted to hear.

"And you didn't think, that we might have been married by then?!" I hadn't even thought about their upcoming wedding recently I was busy not being dead.

"Look Sparky, when I set up your proposal I was trying to help two friends by giving them the final push they needed. It isn't like I was going to let you marry her if she was dangerous, but I didn't know. I still don't. Honestly, I don't know who to trust."

"That is understandable," Dimitri told me comforting from my right. Oh so now he was interfering? Fuck him!

"Look, guys, this has been fun, but I really got a lot of things to do. So, if you could let me go now? I have a lot of work to do and all of this losing consciousness - it is really stealing my time." Christian didn't move from his spot on the bed. Clearly, that wasn't in his planning. I huffed and pulled on my restraints. "Seriously? I am not going to beg!" Just I had said it my phone started ringing. "Can I get that?" Eddie looked at Christian who nodded.

"Put it on speaker." I glared daggers at him, but before I could try to bite his head off Eddie had answered the call and held it up to me.

"Hello? Rose, where the fuck are you?" I breathed in relief. Jesse!

"I have been kidnapped by my best friend's fiancé. It is a long story, I'll tell you when I see you-" He cut me off.

"This can't wait. We are going away for a while: I need to get Mia on a plane to Swiss. Look, she told me, that she told you. So, I know, you know. You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?" Maybe, Jesse knew that he was on speakerphone. Maybe he just didn't trust that we were alone on the line. Whichever it was, I was grateful. I caught Eddie's gaze and he was sending me a questioning look.

"No, I am not. She told me everything: I know it was for me. Actually, I am a bit flattered. Jesse, I have a lot riding on this, I need it to disappear and never to be spoken off again. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Actually, I called because I got something. The other person who downloaded those files that I told you about? Does the name Michela Badica mean anything to you?" I cursed loudly. The more things that got unraveled the more things were pointing at Lissa. "I'll take that as a yes. You know she is on Lissa's campaign team right?" I caught Christian knowing gaze.

"Yeah, I do."

"I am not saying she is behind it. Maybe Michela is screwing her too." I agreed although I knew better. Lissa was most definitely behind this. She might be behind everything.

"Jesse, I have to call you back later, but thank you for this." I needed time to turn this over before I got any more information.

"No Rose, thank you: For Mia. Take care and whatever you do, don't get married before I get back. I have something important to tell you about Adrian." He hung up, leaving me with a tsunami of questions. Most of them were coming from Christian.

"What was that about? What do you know, they know, you know? And what files was he talking about? Rose?"

I sighed and turned to look a Dimitri who was silently waiting at my side. "Untie me and I will fill you in." Christian protested while Dimitri reached behind me and undid the handcuffs. "Thank you," I told him and rubbed the sore spots. Christian made an impatient wave, indicating it was time for me to get on with it. "Right, sorry. Okay so a few a days ago, Jesse came to me with some bad news. Someone leaked my private emails to the press. He promised to look into it and he did: Mikail Tanner was the one who downloaded my files, but he didn't leak them. It had to be someone else and surprise, surprise, it is Michela Badica, Lissa's loyal soldier. How oddly convenient! I still don't get what Mikail want's with my files, but I am going to find out." Christian got a haunted look in his eyes like he just remembered something terrible. "What? What is it?" I asked and looked around. Dimitri just shook his head, he had no idea either, but Eddie seemed to know what was going on.

He and Christian shared a look, then he cursed.

"I have bad news," Christian started.

"More of those huh? I was hoping you were about to run out." He didn't grant my snarky comment with an answer.

"Remember when we found out Jill was Lissa's half-sister a few years back?" I nodded.

"It was the day I got shot. Yeah, I remember."

"Almost, got shot," he pointed out like it made a huge difference. He cleared his throat and continued: "Well, that information wasn't free. The only person we could track down who might know something was Sonya Karp." It took me a minute to place the name. So much had happened since miss Karp lost her mind and turned Strigoi.

"Mikail's long lost love." The only reason Mikail helped me in the first place was that I brought hope for him to get Sonya back.

Christian nodded. "We managed to track her down. It wasn't easy, but we had experience with turning strigoi back to their original state and-"

"Lissa saved her." I finished for him. He nodded. Everything was starting to fall into place. If Lissa turned Sonya back then both Sonya and Mikail would be in unrepayable debt to her. She would be able to ask anything of them. That was why Mikail accessed my files, and it placed the mysterious spirit user I had suspected. Sonya Karp was out there, alive, and she had been playing us all along. "So Dashkov really was innocent after all." I didn't realize I had said the last part out loud before Dimitri asked into it.

"Sorry I am not following?" His accent was thick as it always got when he was upset about something. I sighed and filled him in.

"Sonya Karp was my old teacher at Saint Vladimir's. She was a spirit user, but she went crazy from the darkness, and they had to admit her to a mental institution. Soon after that, she turned Strigoi. Mikail was her lover. When I found out a way to turn you back, he found hope for Sonya. If Lissa turned back Sonya, then she has control over them both. Dammit!" I cursed again. Christian agreed and filled in the rest.

"Mikail gets her all the information she needs, and Sonya does her dirty work. That way no one suspects anything."

"I just still don't get why?" I asked. It was the one big mystery there was still left. What the hell, had made my best friend turn against me?

"I don't know. I looked through her plans, but none of them mentions a motive. It is just scheming and vicious planning." I groaned.

"And that kind of doesn't make sense either. I mean it is Lissa for fuck's sake! Sweet and innocent Lissa!"

Christian agreed. "I know, I am kinda trying to wrap my mind around it too. Maybe we have just been ignorant? How can you spend a decade with someone and still not be aware they were capable of something like this?" Even with all this evidence, I still wanted to believe there was an explanation. That it was the darkness, or someone controlling her, but from where we were standing: It seemed like it was all Liss.

"Maybe. I have to go back there. If I disappear now then, bad things are going to happen."

I headed for the door, but Dimitri blocked my way. "Rose, there is another thing." I crossed my arms but waited patiently. Of course, there was more. Maybe they were about to tell me my mother had been trying to kill me as well. At this point, anything was possible. "We, I, think Adrian is manipulating you."

"I know." There was a long silence. None of them knew what to say, so I sighed and held the door open. "Well? Don't you guys have to go back as well?"

 **Dpov**

Somehow, I ended up in the back with her. It felt that we had only brushed the surface, even with everything that had been said.

Finally, I gathered the courage to ask her "How did you know?"

She looked up at me surprised: Like she had been lost in her own thoughts and my question had brought her out of her haze.

"What?"

"About Adrian. How did you know?" She sighed and picked at her nails. Both rings were missing.

"Jesse warned me. Then Mia confirmed it this morning. I don't know what to make of it yet. How did you find out?" It was an expected backlash of the question. I didn't want to answer it, but she had a right to know.

"I figured it out yesterday, or today really. When I picked up the ring, it was like my thoughts got hazy and I couldn't quiet move."

"Oh." She wasn't looking at me. She was looking at the everchanging landscape outside the window and fidgeting with her clothes.

"Is that what you feel?" She seemed to think about it.

"No. I think it is like with the necklace Victor gave me. If you don't feel anything for the other person, it doesn't work the same way. When I wear it, all I want to do is be close to him. I want to please him: To do what he asks of me, even if it would mean throwing myself off a cliff. I hadn't noticed it until you picked it up this morning. When I wear it, I know what he wants me to do without him even asking me." What she was describing was terrifying. Both because of the full extent of the content, but also because she had admitted some of her feelings for Adrian were real. Selfishly, I had hoped it was all compulsion.

"It is a strong charm then." She nodded. "What are you going to do?" She shrugged.

"We aren't in a hurry to get married like Christian and Lissa. I don't have to break it off right now. Eventually, I will have to confront him though. I don't know how that will turn out." She hadn't answered my most important question.

"Are you still going to marry him?" She looked down and shook her head. Her long hair blocked my view of her face, but the wet spots on her jeans told me she was crying. I didn't know what to do. How did you comfort the woman you loved, when she was crying over her fiancé? I didn't want to call her out in front of the others either, but knowing she was crying was tearing up my heart. Eventually, I reached over and placed my arm around her shoulder, so that I could pull her closer to me, and she rested her head against my chest. She wasn't sobbing, but I could still feel her warm tears soaking through my shirt. This was such a giant mess.

 **You guys still there? Slight spoiler:** **Next chapter will be featuring Victor Dashkov himself, Rufus Tarus getting his hands dirty and Jesse Zeklos saving the day! As our gang goes deeper down the rabbit hole more secrets are getting unraveled and Dimitri is about to get a huge surprise. Oh and Rose finally punches someone! Stay with me guys, XOXO AlexRoseRusso**


	16. The great escape

**Okay, here goes! Hope you like it, it is a bit long, but there was a lot to include. This is the last, super-complicated chapter. From here on it will be more action and less talk. I'd say we have 4-5 chapters left of this story.**

Rpov

My phone buzzed again with another text. The screen lit up with another unanswered question: _Everything ok?_ It was from Adrian. Again. I hadn't been able to look at him since my talk with Mia. Instead of facing him I had chosen to ignore him. Now it was late Monday afternoon, and he wanted to meet me for dinner. I should go and make it seem like I was still oblivious. But I had already had to deal with one snake today, and I couldn't handle another.

Lissa was already obsessed with planning her wedding down to the smallest detail. As I had predicted, Daniella was more than thrilled to be asked to arrange the Dragomir weeding. She had already been able to get catering, flowers, reserve the church and find a venue. Lissa had picked her bridesmaids to be Jill Dragomir, Michela Badica, Camille Conta, Abby Badica and, of course, me. Mia had been, ever so subtly, excluded under the excuse that she was a married woman now. Honestly: That tradition was so outdated it was lame. However, with Mia out of the country, I guess she wouldn't know until after the wedding. The invites hadn't been sent out yet. However, it was expected that everyone would drop everything to be able to attend. Daniella had even called a few of her friends to make them cancel their parties on the chosen date. Now all they needed was a cake, a dress, and a groom. Of course, they didn't know the last part was missing.

Daniella had stopped by my house this morning and insisted she had to get all us bridesmaids, and the bride, to a tailor. He would set us up with something that needed minimal fitting.

 _Flashback_

 _"Oh, Rose why don't you try on something as well? This is my future daughter in law, Rose Hathaway" Daniella had coed to the consultant. Lissa was in the middle of trying her fifth dress. The more I looked at her, the more flaws I found about her. Like the way, her cheek wrinkled in layers when she was dissatisfied about something. Or how her eyes always seemed to be fishlike - scanning the room. The last thing I wanted was to get up beside her in a long white dress and pretend to be besties._

 _"That won't be necessary Daniella. We have plenty of time to find a dress for me. Today is about Lissa." I tried to excuse myself and took a big sip of my champagne._

 _"Oh, nonsense, I would love to see you in a dress. Come on Rose: It will be like when we were little and dressed up in my mothers closet." Lissa called from the podium. I couldn't get out of it now and had to stand up._

 _"Alright, just one then." All the girls squealed, I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them. In all fairness, most of them didn't know what was going on. Still, I found them to be exceptionally fake. Jill was my only real friend in this setup at least I hoped she was._

 _I knew Camille and Abby from high school. They had been nice. At least so far. Royals kept together, so it was no surprise Lissa had asked them to be her bridesmaids. I found it more surprising that I was there._

 _The attendant found a ballgown dress with a corset making me immediately try to back out of the small stall._

 _"No way!" I told her firmly. She furrowed her brows, looking at the dress._

 _"Why not? You have the curves for it," she commented. I wanted to roll my eyes. That was exactly, why I didn't want to try it. If I wanted to look out of place, that was the sure way to go._

 _What was I thinking? I wasn't even getting married: It didn't matter how the dress looked! Still, she wasn't getting me to wear that thing._

 _"Do you have something slim? In silk?" She shrugged, like she thought it was the most terrible idea, but went to find something. It took several minutes before she returned carrying a gown in off-white silk with a waterfall back. It was okay. I tried it on and liked what I saw. It wasn't something Lissa would pick, but I thought it made me look a little more royal. It didn't exactly hide my figure, but it made me look more slender._

 _"Oh my god, it is gorgeous! Look at you two!" Daniella exclaimed and clapped her hands together. Lissa was standing proudly in her classic gown, that looked like a copy of Kate Middleton's. Meanwhile, I was just awkwardly trying not to throw up. "You should have a double wedding!" She suggested. I felt Lissa put her skinny arm around me in a bonelike catching wire._

 _"Oh my god yes! Wouldn't that be perfect, Rose? Imagine if we had kids at the same time!" I didn't need to imagine it: Her vision was already flowing to me through the bond. I just stood there not knowing what to say or do and not quite believing the scenario either. Was she tone-deaf? "Rose?"_

"Rose?" I looked up into a familiar face and blushed. I had completely spaced out.

"Ambrose. Hi! Sorry, I didn't see you there. Do you want to sit?" He turned on his perfect smile while sliding into my booth.

"I am sorry if I disturbed you. I just thought it was a long time since I had seen you." I pushed aside my empty coffee cup and notes.

"Yeah, it is. What are you doing here?" I had chosen a dinner way out of court for a reason and hadn't expected to run into anyone.

"I heard you were here." It didn't take a genius to figure out from who.

"Oh."

He nodded.

"Then I suppose Mr. Dashkov himself won't be showing?" I had asked Victor to meet me here. As promised, I was delivering his way in, in the form of license cards and false legitimization.

Ambrose smiled knowingly. "Mr. Dashkov will be meeting you a place of his pick. He asks that you follow me and I will take you to the meeting spot."

I moved the teaspoon a little and pouted while I considered the pros and cons. "Nope," I told him, popping the p. "Mr. Dashkov can meet me here. He can gain from all the hard work that I have done for him, or he can go fuck himself. I don't need him anymore. In fact: I am doing him a favor just by being here, so it is going to be my way or the high way, get it?" Ambrose looked frightened. Honestly, what did he expect? Victor was lucky that I was even here. Jesse and Christian had pieced together everything I needed to know. In doing so, they had made Victor completely expendable.

Someone let out a throaty laugh from the next booth. An old man with a hat and sunglasses used his cane to support him as he stood up. "Thank you, Ambrose. You can leave now." He replaced Ambrose in the booth and slipped off his wedding band. The old man disappeared as Victor Dahkov appeared in front of me. "Hello, Rose," he greeted me, seeming delighted like this was a fun little gathering.

I glared at him, annoyed that he was still trying to play games with me. I didn't have time for politeness I just wanted this to be over.

"Here is all you need to get in. Robert will need to get you through the gate, but I can see that he is well practiced. He can manage. Once you are inside, it is important that you don't get near Lissa or Adrian. They will know instantly. I have arranged that the security is minimized at the Ozera-Dragomir household. You get in by using the hidden tunnel that mouths out in Ismal Lazar's kitchen. His maid keeps a key for the backdoor under the doormat, and the house is empty tonight when everyone is at Valkyrie Voda's gala. Don't turn on the light towards the street and try not to alert anyone of your presence. No one knows you are there. The keycard is set up as Ariana Szelsky. It is important you arrive first, or you won't be able to use the card. I'll check you out so that she can enter. I don't know how you will pull it off in there with Ekaterina, but that is your problem, not mine. Once you have to leave, you call me. I will erase the digital memory of the electric lock from the past five hours, then check everyone in at their expected time of arrival. That way I can make it seem like you were never there. As for getting out: You will need to leave right away. Otherwise, you will get caught.

The next test is in five days. That is all you are getting from me."

He smiled and took the envelope I offered him. "Thank you, Rose. I must say this is rather impressive. You could have made quite a career in the heist society, has anyone ever told you that?"

I rolled my eyes at him and gathered my things. "Only you. Take it as a favor that I might need to call in one day."

He looked at me surprised. "I have a name for you?"

I smirked: For once I had the upper hand. "No need. I already know. It is always the innocent ones, huh?"

He nodded impressed. "It is. What you have done for me is impressive. I will allow you another favor, but don't you want to know what I found out?"

I huffed superiorly but waved at him. "Sure, come with it."

He smirked and began, "Vasilisa-"

"Is the mastermind, yep."

He frowned but kept going. "She had someone special gather the information. Sonya Karp-"

"Along with Mikail Tanner, yeah I know that too."

He was getting more and more frustrated that I had figured it out on my own. "And Michela Badica?"

I nodded.

He smiled proudly like he was genuinely happy about my success. "You have been around, haven't you? Well, I won't bother you then. You got the motive as well?"

I frowned. I didn't - it was the one part that I was still working on. "Do you?" I tried. Maybe I could lure it out of him without having to give him something in return.

He gave me an arrogant smile but shook his head negative. "No, but I was hoping you could enlighten me. I do have something that I think might surprise you, though: I looked into your logbook-"

"How did you get that?" I demanded but he didn't respond.

"And I traced back the origin. Some of them were paid assassins who either got killed, captured or left a business card behind. The good thing about those is you can trace their bank account-"

"To other fake bank accounts." He smiled.

"Oh Rose, you really know nothing about this world, do you? No accounts can be fake, they need an origin somewhere. Luckily for you, I am somewhat of an expert in that area. I traced most of them, and from what I gathered, it isn't just one person." Surprise. I could have told him that.

"Just give me a list." He shook his head.

"No, it is not that easy. You see, I was able to trace some of the money back to a personal account. It should have been deleted, but for some reason, it wasn't. An account in the name of Andre Dragomir. It isn't hard to imagine where that is coming from." Nope, Lissa, man, she really wanted me out of the way. "Some of it came from an old foundation, originally founded by Eric Dragomir." Also no surprise. "Then some of it was transferred from institutions - that is where it gets ugly: Most of it came from government funds. That means you have an enemy within the system. It could be Vasilisa, or it could be someone else."

I smirked, well I knew something he didn't. "It was the late queen, may she burn in hell. Do you have anything actually useful?" He raised both brows in surprise.

"I don't know: Did you know that the rest of the money comes from companies owned by either the Ozera or the Ivashkov family?" I didn't, but I wasn't about to throw accusations around again.

"Big families, many suspects. Do you have any names?" He shook his head.

"No, but I am guessing Natasha Ozera had some funds for her activism. As for the Ivashkovs, who knows?" He was right, it might be Tatiana, or it might be any other Ivashkov who didn't like me. There was no way to know for sure.

I sighed. "God it was so much easier when I just had to handle the undead. I could throw a punch and know if it hit. This thing - never knowing where the next attack comes from is starting to get me. I wish I could just do a knockout and get it over with."

Victor smiled at me knowingly. "You are thinking of it wrong: It isn't a fighting match - it is chess."

I looked at him doubtfully. "Chess?" He nodded.

"It isn't who is in your corner but who is on your side of the field. Vasilisa is ultimately playing for the throne. She already has her line up of players. Who is playing on your side?" He didn't give me time to answer before he stood up. "Thank you for your help, Rose. I hope we meet again under more fortunate circumstances."

I let out an amused snort. "Oh, we will. I'll see you on Wednesday."

* * *

 **D pov**

Being summoned by the head guardian was unusual, but not unheard. When Guardian Croft called me into his office Monday around dawn, I knew it could be about at least a dozen different things. The least likely was that he knew about Rose's halfhearted abduction yesterday and wanted to find the responsible. The most likely was that he just needed me to do more over time. Again. His secretary seemed relaxed, so I took that as a good sign.

When I entered the office, I was slightly taken aback by the gathering. Hans was behind his desk, as usual, but the chairs were occupied by Adrian Ivashkov, Ibrahim Mazur, Rufus Tarus and Ava Drozdov.

"Guardian Croft, you asked to see me?" I greeted, closing the door gingerly behind me. It felt like I was walking into a trap. Hans sighed and pointed to a dinner chair someone had pulled in. I noticed now that Adrian and Ava had also been placed on temporary chairs while Ibrahim and Rufus enjoyed the office's own chesterfields.

"Yes, please sit Guardian Belikov, I am afraid this meeting is of a concerning nature." I felt unease come crawling but refused to let anyone know.

"What seems to be the issue?" It was Adrian that answered.

"Rose is missing, no one has seen her since she tried on dresses with Vasilisa and her bridesmaids. We all figured you would know where she is." I kept my mask on.

"No, I haven't seen her since yesterday. I don't know where she might have gone." Hans studied me closely.

"You see guardian Belikov it is important that we find her. She might be in danger," he stated. I understood it was serious, but I didn't get why they thought I would know where she had gone.

"Yes, I understand, but I have no idea where she would be. Have you tried her security team?" Hans grieve face grew darker.

"I have been informed that Miss Hathaway has released all of her guards, except one, from their contracts. The remaining guard is still here at court and has no idea where she has gone. We tried to track her credit card and her cell, but she has left both behind. Either she has been taken, or she doesn't want to be found," he concluded.

"If I might ask, with all due respect sir, why the hurry? Normally we don't report people missing before after forty-eight hours."

"Because," It wasn't Hans that answered but Ava. Her voice was high-pitched and stern. "as a councilmember, Miss Hathaway was never supposed to leave the court. The fact that she has done so, frequently, and now without returning, or the needed security, is concerning to say at least." That part I knew but had forgotten. There were few exceptions that allowed councilmembers to leave during an election. Quick, escorted trips were allowed, but Rose had apparently taken off alone.

"Maybe she went to visit someone?" I suggested.

"My daughter wouldn't have much visiting to do, seeing as all her friends and family, including her mother and I, are currently here, at the royal court." It was Ibrahim who answered. He had been observing us silently until know. He didn't seem unhinged, but he must have been concerned to be here.

"Janine is here?"

"Seeing as Guardian Hathaway is guarding lord Szelsky, it is safe to say she has been here for a while," Hans noted.

"Well, she certainly hasn't been around to celebrate her daughter's recent engagement. Maybe she knows where Rose is," I suggested a little harshly. Knowing Janine had been here and not made time to see Rose at all, bothered me. If it was me about to get married, my mother and sisters would be all over me.

"I am sure guardian Hathaway has other things keeping her busy, and it is Rose Hathaway we were here to discuss. You see guardian Belikov, Rose was supposed to be at a very important meeting yesterday, which she missed, despite the guardian at the front gate insisting he let her trough. We were informed that you were with her at the time?" It was Rufus Tarus who was asking the question. I mentally cursed: We hadn't counted on anyone noticing her absence.

"We were unable to make it on time due to a flat tire. Council member Hathaway insisted we'd turn around since we couldn't make it anyway." I answered, sensing now wasn't the time to forget titles.

"A flat tire?" Adrian asked pointedly. I was about to repeat my story when Hans' secretary knocked on the door.

"Excuse me? Guardian Eliason just called from the Westgate: Miss Hathaway just returned. I took the liberty of asking him to send her here directly?" She was silently asking Hans to approve. He nodded and thanked her.

"I guess our guest of honor has returned," was his only comment through a tight smile. We waited in silence until the door opened again and Rose slipped through. She was wearing ankle boots, dark jeans, and a white henley. The sunglasses in her hair confirmed she had been on a long journey.

"I heard you missed me, guardian Croft?" During normal circumstances, I didn't doubt she would have used a nickname for the head guardian, but she wasn't completely tone-deaf. Her fiance was.

"WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Adrian sneered angrily. I glared at him. How dare he talk to her like that?

Rose didn't even flinch: She just shrugged lazily. "I went to get a burger, chill. They don't make decent fast-food at court, you know."

He was fuming. "And you didn't think to call or text and let me know you were okay?"

She shook her head with a light smile, seeming to find this scenario utterly ridiculous. "I forgot my purse. I didn't notice until I had already ordered, so I didn't bother to go back for it." She laughed it off. We were six grown adults arguing about her whereabouts, and she pretended she had just gone for a snack. I don't think anyone bought it completely despite a convincing deliverance.

"You took your burner phone: You must have seen my texts!" Adrian insisted.

Rose shook her head. "I lost that thing weeks ago. Honey, I don't get the big drama. I was just hungry. It has only been a few hours." I found the use of the nickname to be ironic, but Adrian calmed down noticeably.

Ava cleared her throat. "Miss Hathaway! Do you have any idea about the consequences your reckless and irresponsible behavior could have caused?!" She scolded.

Rose got a bored expression. "If you are about to tell me that I risk getting expelled, I am seriously not going to hang around for it." She told her in all seriousness. She had heard the preach before. Ava looked like someone had just insulted her ancestors. Her face crumbled into a furious scowl, her chin layered as her wrinkles started to show.

"If you would excuse me, guardian Croft. Now that the girl has been found, I have more important matters to deal with!" She exclaimed and stormed off.

Rose rolled her eyes and pushed the door closed with her foot. "Anyone else wants to yell at me?" She asked out in the open.

Hans sighed. "What part about being careful and keeping a low profile, don't you get?" He asked annoyed.

Rose threw her hands up in a resignedly gesture. "I went to get dinner? Am I not allowed to eat?"

"Yes, you are allowed to eat, INSIDE COURT. Don't leave without permission again or there will be consequences," he warned. His warning didn't hit it's purpose cause it turned on a wicked smile on Rose's face. I could only guess how she was going to turn this to her advantage.

"What are you going to kill me? Because then I suggest you get in line." Hans' face turned tomato red.

"That," he hissed, "is exactly why you shouldn't go outside without protection!"

She flipped him off. "Actually, I have come to the conclusion that, with this enormous target on my back, it doesn't even matter anymore. So, I fired them. From now on I will be handling myself. If I get shot, make sure to get it on camera - I want it to go viral. Let that be my last will." There was a long silence, none of us knew if she was being serious.

"Rose, you can't mean that." Adrian was the one to break the silence. She pierced him with a single look.

"Actually, I do. If so many people want to see me dead, perhaps it is for the best. I am done fighting it. From now on I will be fulfilling the reason I got my seat in the first place. There will be a new proposition each day. When the council starts up again: I am going to make sure the only thing happening the first month is processing suggestions which will make dhampire lives easier. They can vote it down, but they can't ignore it. I will not rest until each and every discriminating law has been removed. We will be equal across races, sex, religion, and social status. Mark my words: This will be the last election for a monarch. From the next period and forward we will have democracy, so help me god! I don't care who I have to fight, for how long, or how I will have to do it, but things are going to change, so help me god!" There was a long pause then hell broke loose.

"NO, YOU WILL NOT!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!"

"HAVE YOU COMPLETELY LOST IT?"

Everyone was yelling, but Rose stood calmly and faced them all. She must have expected it.

"No, I am not crazy. That is what I was brought in to do, and I will do it. It is my legacy - let it destroy me if it must," she insisted. While I was admiring her bravery, I also thought it was completely nuts.

"We are leaving tomorrow morning. Go home and pack, you are not carrying out this crazy plan of yours!" Adrian exclaimed.

"You can't leave! What do you think will happen? You will never be able to return! Everything she has worked for will be wasted!" Rufus boomed. "Rose, you are staying here, and you are not causing any trouble. We can look at your propositions after the election, but you will not be ruining my campaign!" He yelled at her.

"Kizim," Ibrahim tried more calmly, "maybe you should calm your horses. These past few days have been eventful, you are stressed. Let guardian Croft handle the security, while you keep a low profile. You don't have to fight the world's battles all the time." Off all the men yelling, she looked almost tempted to listen to him. Unfortunately, Hans was the next person to speak up.

"I am calling your mother and getting her to arrange your security. Rose, if you make trouble now, you are going to ruin everything that you have worked for," he warned her.

She was getting flustered. "Oh for heaven's sake, listen to yourself? Calm my horses? Keep a low profile? You mean hide like a coward! I have a purpose, mingling and doing dinner parties isn't it!" She exclaimed with a big gesture, but she was calming down slightly. At least until Adrian spoke again.

"We are keeping you alive since you aren't doing anything for it yourself! This is what you hired me for! To take care of your public reputation. So for god's sake listen to me and stop being such a stubborn bitch!" Okay, that was it, he crossed the line. Before I could stop myself, the words were already booming out of my mouth while I imagined Adrian being fried.

"Stop telling her what to do! She is a grown woman: She can make her own decisions as good as any of us!" He glared back at me.

"Keep your mouth shut dhampire. You know nothing about this!" He growled.

"Stop it, all of you!" Rose exclaimed throwing dirty looks at us all. "Listen to you! Grown men arguing about what you think a woman should do!" She spat the last part at us, then took a deep breath and looked directly at Rufus.

"I won't do anything to ruin your shot at being king. If you think it is better I hold my tongue, I will. Not because you tell me to, but because I trust your judgment." He looked like he thought about it for a moment, then he gave her a quick nod to tell her he heard her. She took another deep breath and looked at Hans. "You are not calling my mother. I meant what I said: If I drop dead so be it. I am not going to hide anymore." Hans was about to protest but she had already moved on to her father. "I am staying in the house. Please update the alarm system, we are going to need it. I trust you to keep our home here at court safe." He nodded and gave her a quick smile before her gaze shifted to Adrian. "As for you, I really think you should reconsider the attitude you are bringing into this relationship. We are getting married, that means compromises, not ultimatums and you ordering me around. If you yell at me one more time about my whereabouts, then we are done. Understood?!" His eyes shone with fear, and he gave her a small nod, like a little boy getting scolded. Finally, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply only to exhale. Then she opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Please, guardian Belikov, would you mind escorting me to lord Ozera's current location? I need to speak a word with him." Her words were formal and didn't betray her mindset. I couldn't read her eyes either: She was closed off completely.

"Rose, I need to speak to you as well. Could you come by after?" Rufus asked her. She nodded quietly.

Adrian wore a deep frown on his face, seeming forever dissatisfied. "I was hoping we could spend the evening?" He asked. It was more of a plea. He knew he was in deep water. Rose looked at him with an expression I couldn't quite read. It wasn't compassionate, but it wasn't hateful either. Then she did something unexpected; she walked over to him, bent down and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I can come by tomorrow: We can spend the morning. I need to talk to you as well." He grasped her waist and looked at her like a lost kid would look at his mother. There was something so utterly vulnerable about their exchange that made it sore to watch. It only lasted seconds before Rose pulled away and headed for the door. I followed behind her until we were outside and headed for the palace.

"Do you think Christian will be willing to meet me alone? I might need you to fetch him for me - in case Lissa is home," she informed me on our way there. She was dancing around the big issue - she didn't want to talk to Lissa. I could understand why, but she wasn't being very discrete.

"The Princess isn't home tonight. She is with lady Ivashkov making preparations." I was trying hard to keep the emotions out of my voice.

She sighed in relief. "Thank goodness!" We were almost at the palace if I hoped to get a word in with her now would be the time. I was about to when someone else interrupted.

"Council member Hathaway!" It was a dhampire girl with short light brown curls. I felt like I had seen her before, but couldn't quite place her. She was smiling in a way that told me I didn't need to fear she would try an attack. Rose stopped and smiled widely.

"Please, Meredith, we went to school together! Call me Rose for god's sake! Or arrogant bitch," she hinted at a previous encounter.

Meredith blushed. "Right, that was way back-"

Rose flipped her off. "Too long, really. How have you been?"

Meredith gave her a half smile. "I have been good! I got a good assignment after school ended so I am happy! And you have done rather well for yourself, congratulations on your engagement!" She praised and Rose rolled her eyes.

"Don't say that yet: It is in a thin thread right now. It is really good to see you. Do you think you might have time to catch up one of these days?" She asked, turning the attention back on Meredith who looked flustered.

"Yes of course! I mean, I have a lot of shifts, but I would love to find a day to meet! Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something rather important." She eyed me suspiciously as she said it and Rose seemed to understand it was something private.

"Can it wait till Thursday? I have time to meet you then and talk more private. Maybe we could get a drink somewhere?" Meredith nodded enthusiastically.

"Sure thing, how do I reach you?" Rose pulled a business card from her inner pocket.

"Just send a text the second number." She pointed on the card and smiled. "See you Thursday!" Meredith stood back while we continued towards the palace, but she seemed more than pleased.

"That was awfully nice of you," I commented.

Rose looked up at me surprised. "Was it? I really need new friends lately," she noted as a matter of fact. I couldn't help but shake my head at her. She did, but taking the time to meet Meredith was still doing her a favor. There was basically nothing Meredith had to offer that would benefit Rose at this point in life. Rose, however, held all the cards to make Meredith's life a lot easier.

"You know what you just did for her," I pointed out to her and she shrugged.

"If you can't make time for an old classmate you need to reconsider your priorities," was all she said. We had reached the palace and I trailed behind her like it was custom. As I had promised Christian was alone in the apartment.

"Rose, come in," he greeted bluntly and let us both in. He was only slightly surprised to see me as I had just gotten off from work. Rose strolled past him and took a seat on the couch.

"I need to talk to you. I have some news," was her entry line. Christian, for once, seemed to understand it was serious.

"Of course. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I won't staying for long: I talked to Victor Dashkov today." So, that was what she was doing outside court - I knew the burger excuse was fake. Things started to fall into place.

Christian sat down on the couch as well with his hands on his knees.

"Was it him who told you to yell at Lissa?" He asked sarcastically. Rose cringed. As most of court would know: There had been a crisis this morning at court's most exclusive bridal store. Apparently, Princess Vasilisa Dragomir and her bridesmaid, council member Rosemarie Hathaway, had been in a heated argument. The affair had ended with a thrown over mannequin and Rose leaving the store in her underdress. What really went down hadn't made it to the press yet, and probably wouldn't, but people were talking. I had tried to ignore, but like everyone else, I was slightly curious.

"I didn't yell at Lissa. I was mildly disagreeing with Daniella," she corrected.

He arched a doubtful brow at her diplomatic statement. "That is not what I heard."

She scowled. "No, of course not! Lissa had a fit and called me a selfish bitch, and now we apparently aren't on speaking terms, which kind of makes it easier to plot against her."

Christian frowned. "You shouldn't fight with her. It is better if she doesn't suspect anything."

Rose glared at him angrily. "Hey, she started it! I just told them that I wasn't going to share my wedding day - Which isn't even going to happen, so I don't get the big deal," she noted.

Christian let out an amused snort. "They don't know that, which is exactly why you should have been okay with the proposition: It isn't happening."

She pouted. "Can't you just be on my side for once?"

"I am on your side Rose, remember? We are working on taking her down, but arguments about wedding dresses? You need to calm down."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest in a protective stance. "No, I don't! I went there, I tried on that ridiculous bridesmaid dress she picked: It was curry colored, Christian, curry!" She pointed out as if it was a justifying reason for murder. "Then they pushed me into that stupid white gown - The assistant tried to get me in a corset dress - like I wasn't standing out enough already! And then they suggested having a double wedding! I would die for her, in the past tense, but she is not having my wedding day! Not even when it isn't actually going to happen!" She sneered.

Christian and I exchanged a look. Clearly, this was a woman-thing that we didn't get.

"You have lost me: Start with the curry dress and explain, please?" He asked nicely.

She sighed and pulled a cushion into her lap. "Okay, so curry is just unflattering. Like, she wants everyone else to be ugly, just because it is her special day. She is wearing a big white gown - she already has the attention, alright? And me trying on a wedding dress was plain unnecessary: It was her fitting, and that way they turned me into a side note, which is exactly what would happen at a double wedding: Everyone would be looking at princess Dragomir and not give a shit about 'the other couple'. Also, a corset dress would draw attention to my curves. I like my curves, but not when I am being compared to a model-like, slender goddess! It was all just wrong, okay? And I tried to decline politely, but then they kept insisting. And then Lissa called me selfish for not wanting to share. Then she insisted, that I should take off the dress - right there in the middle of the salon! Just to humiliate me! And when I refused, she attacked me! I had to back into the window display to avoid her and then I accidentally knocked over the mannequin. So yeah, I threw the stupid dress at her, but I honestly don't think I was in the wrong!" We sat there shocked. It had started out with pettiness and ended out in craziness.

"Okay... That is not the version Lissa gave me. She said you threw the mannequin at her and stripped, then left the store out of spite."

She rolled her eyes and muttered, "of course she did." She sighed and ran a hand over her face. "So, I talked to Dashkov-"

Christian peaked up. "Yeah?"

"He found something: Some of the attacks were founded with money coming from different funds and firms. Not surprisingly, Dragomir was one of the names that showed up, but so did Ivashkov and Ozera." She quickly continued before he could say anything. "I am not accusing you, but do you think it is possible maybe Tasha had some accounts which haven't been closed?" He considered it then nodded.

"I think she and my dad made a few founds. Maybe someone has access to those? I can look into it?"

"That would be nice. Also, Victor said something interesting: He thought this battle reminded a lot of chess?"

Christian considered it for a few moments without saying anything. "That makes sense. So, who is on our side of the board?"

"Obviously you, me, Eddie, Dimitri, Jesse, Mia, my dad, Rufus-" Christian stood up in the middle of her rant and looked for something in the drawer of a cupboard. He returned with a miniature, magnetic chess board.

"It is for travel," he explained and set it up. "Alright, so Lissa is on that side, we are on this side. You take down the king, you win the game, so that would make Lissa the king. Who is her queen?"

Rose came up with an immediate answer. "Tatiana, quite literally. She could take out anyone. Basically, she was the most powerful piece."

Christian nodded in agreement. "Tatiana died. That takes her out I guess."

Rose cringed a little but agreed.

"Alright. Who are her knights?"

"Adrian, at least one of them, Sonya Karp is the other."

Christian marked them off on the board. "Towers?"

Rose shrugged. "Some royal? I don't know."

Christian studied the board intensely, then moved around on the knight and the runner. "I am the other knight, at least she thinks so. Sonya is a tower. Mikhail and Michela are her runners. Who is the last tower?" There was loud silence and he sighed. "Okay, we don't know yet. Then there are the soldiers."

Rose nodded. "Eight of those. Could be anyone from royals to guardians, we don't know yet." He nodded and turned the board around.

"Alright, let's do our side. Towers?" Rose moved each one back to mark them as taken.

"Abe and Hans. Powerful, but only in one way."

Christian shook his head in disagreement. "Hans yes, but Abe is a knight, he goes around the law, bends it, maks sketchy deals. Who are our runners?"

"Mia, but she is out, at least temporarily."

Christian took a runner off the board without questions. "Tower?"

"Victor. An unsteady one at that"

He nodded and marked it. "Alright, your other knight?"

She frowned. "You? At least I hope so." He gave her a small smile to confirm he was, in fact, her other knight.

"The other runner?"

"Jesse, still in the game." He nodded and marked it.

"I think we can agree that you are the queen," he noted as if it was obvious. Rose pulled back and looked at him with an unreadable expression like she was really upset.

"You think so?" She looked at me for confirmation and I gave her a nod. Rose was definitely in the most powerful position at the moment. She was the queen. "Thank you!" She exclaimed and looked touched like she didn't know what to do of herself.

"So, who is our king?" Christian asked looking at the board.

"Well, you take down the king, you win the game right?" She asked and he gave her a confirmative nod. "There is only one person who is crucial for our victory. She can only win if she becomes queen, that means she has to take out all of her opponents. Rufus. Rufus Tarus is our king, which is why I need to see him next," she concluded and stood up suddenly, ready for a dramatic exit. I prepared to follow her out, but she stopped suddenly and looked at Christian with wide eyes.

"I forgot to tell you! Twice now..." He made a move to get up from his seat, but she stopped him and instead sat on the coffee table in front of him. "Christian, the reason Lissa is in such a hurry to get married is that she is pregnant." Rose had a lot of things, many talents included. Good timing wasn't one of them. I felt sorry for Christian as shock and horror spread across his face.

* * *

R pov

I left Dimitri outside while I went to talk to Rufus in his office. For once it was quiet in the Tarus household and he had time to see me.

"I take it you have figured out Vasilisa's true motive. Or was this morning truly about wedding dresses?" He asked as he poured me a cognac.

"You heard about that huh?" He chuckled and sat in the other armchair.

"Everyone has heard about it. I am almost certain you screamed loud enough to alert the gate guardians."

I glared at him. He was wearing a smirk that I really wanted off his face. "I didn't scream! I informed her, loudly, that she would need to replace me as her maid of honor."

He took a sip to get out of having to answer to that. "So, was it really about wedding dresses?" I frowned at my cup. I didn't quite know how to get on with this.

"I found out yesterday that Lissa has betrayed me. She doesn't know I know yet, but I am having a hard time playing pretend," I admitted, not spilling too much. Rufus just nodded like he knew all too well.

"Yes, I am afraid princess Dragomir has lost her grip on reality. Truth be told Rose, I am not sure that she is quite herself lately. However, the person that she has turned into needs to be stopped. That is what brings you here," he guessed. My heart was going fifty miles an hour, and I needed to take a deep breath to calm it.

"It is. You asked for my help with the election: I wanted to let you know I am behind you completely."

He smiled and placed a hand on my knee. "I am happy to hear that, although I wished the circumstances were different."

"Me too. Now tell me what I can do for you?" I forced a smile and pretended like this was all in good fun. At least I could have a little piece of normal.

"Start with telling me everything you know." And I did. I told him all the details for the tryouts, the security, who was called in, where they would take place and when. I even told him about my talk with Victor, although I left out that I would be helping him in tomorrow. That was my secret, for now.

"You don't seem surprised by anything I have told you," I commented once I was done.

Rufus shrugged and seemed awfully full of himself. "Men like Victor Dahskov and I have a way of keeping an eye on everything. It comes with experience. I have had my eye on Tatiana's boy-toy for a while." So, Rufus had someone follow Ambrose, which meant he knew about my talk with Victor already. Lovely. I felt a slight satisfaction knowing Victor hadn't figured that out yet.

"You aren't mad at me, are you?" A laugh left his throat while he shook his head overbearingly.

"For talking to Dashkov? No, he is a clever man. A worthy opponent in my opinion. I'd rather take on him than Vasilisa." I doubted that was true. Victor had a weird way of getting power everywhere he went. Lissa was just a girl with a few minions. He must have read the skepticism on my face cause he felt the need to spell it out. He leaned forward as if he was afraid someone might hear.

"Vasilisa is Tatiana's prodigy. Do you know how Tatiana got the crown in the first place?" I didn't, but I had a feeling I was about to find out. "They were five people fighting for the throne back then. Two contestants decided to pull their candidacy, two died during the tryouts. The deaths were written off as accidents but if you ask me it isn't a coincidence there was only one person left standing. In the old days, the final part of the election used to be a fight to the death - I believe it still is, but the fight is dirtier yet leaves a smaller mess. I have no doubt Vasilisa will be using the same methods as her mentor. In fact, I already received the first letter asking me to step down. Of course, having been in this business for a long time, I know how to handle it." This was all news to me. I had been busy trying to protect my own life I hadn't been looking anywhere else. Of course, Lissa was trying to take Rufus out it was the simple way to win.

"Victor compared it to a game of chess?"

"An interesting comparison. Not totally off. Who is our queen?"

"I am." I was a little wary stating it, but he didn't seem to object.

"Tatiana was Vasilisa's queen." He concluded. I had come to the same conclusion. "Our King? If we are playing, I want to know for who," He informed me.

I smirked, "isn't that obvious? You are." It took a moment for him to react, but it seemed I had flattered him.

"It is an honor. Well, seeing as we have been playing for while already, I believe it is safe to tell you that we have sacrificed a runner to take out the queen." Rufus could still surprise me, although we knew each other well.

"What makes you figure?" He emptied his glass and put it on the table.

"Your small friend, Mrs. Zeklos, she has been missing. I can only guess why: Tatiana had not so nice plans for her. In return she poisoned her." He said it as if it was the most obvious reason in the world. Had he heard Mia's confession? I was already going the content of my bag over in my head, trying to find the bug.

"What makes you think Tatiana was poisoned?" Perhaps I should have pretended to be more surprised, but it was hard when I already knew. I just didn't know Rufus knew.

"When someone comes to me and ask for poison, lethal enough to cause a heart attack, it isn't hard to figure out what they need it for. Tatiana health grew worse as time passed by then she died of a heart attack. I am no longer naive enough to think of something like that as a coincidence," he concluded.

It was my turn to snort. "Oh, Rufus. You knew very well what you did, didn't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have given her the poison. In a way, you killed Tatiana, Mia just carried out the work for you. You knew she wanted Tatiana dead, didn't you?" His face was blank, but I could see that he was trying to read me. Maybe he wanted to know how openly he could speak of the murder he had undoubtedly committed.

"Say I did: You don't seem surprised it was Mrs. Zeloks behind it. You already knew, and you haven't told anyone yet. Which means you aren't going to." I shrugged and stood up to get the bottle.

"A bold conclusion. Maybe I was saving it for later?" Rufus raised a brow. Why could everyone do that? Sigh, he had me figured out, there was no use trying to play him. "Tatiana was a bitch. Always. Let the past be and let's focus on the presence. How do we stop Lissa? What is her plan even?" Rufus took the glass I had just refilled.

"Let me enlighten you: It is a case of a twisted correlation. Both factors decrease as they spin into a spiral of madness. I think someone was trying to manipulate Tatiana, but it backfired. Tatiana then tried to manipulate Lissa, which created a monster of its own. That monster, tried to manipulate Tatiana back, which caused her to go even further in her seek of salvation. From what I have seen and heard, what Tatiana had truly planned was a purification of races. She wanted true royals, true commoners and true dhampire, and she wanted it organized, so they didn't mix. This isn't the same Tatiana who gave you your chair, remember that. This one was triggered, by someone else, I just don't know who it was yet. Tatiana in return created Lissa, a prodigy-"

"She couldn't have done that without a really powerful spirit user," I interrupted.

Rufus stared off into space for a minute. "You know the rules of spirit better than I. I trust it to be true - does that get us any closer to a suspect?"

"Unfortunately, no. I only know very few and those that I know are already involved. Spirit uses usually goes under the radar it could be anyone. The motive, you say, was purification? Sounds royal." Rufus shook his head.

"Royals are top of the food chain. Some may be paranoid but not enough that they would want to sacrifice their pets." With pets, he meant dhampire. Lovely. I didn't think he meant it personal, but it still stung.

"A woman perhaps? Someone who wanted her husband for herself?" A jealous woman was a far cry, but not impossible. Rufus shook his head.

"Could be but I doubt it. You are on the right track. This is an act of bitterness. I would say someone who feels cheated of their right. Someone who was supposed to be royal, but isn't." He was right, I realized. Only a moroi halfbreed would want to separate the parts. To ensure no one else was ever cheated of their right.

"That certainly narrows it down. I am a little concerned about the names that pop into mind."

"Robert Duro Dashkov?" He guessed.

"Among others, but yes Robert would make the top of the list. Expect that he has been helping Victor help me, which doesn't make sense with him being a criminal mastermind. Also, he is... unstable."

"People can surprise you." That, he was right about. I took another sip.

"They sure can."

* * *

I left Rufus house feeling a lot better about the situation. Or maybe it was because I felt like someone else knew what they were doing and that itself was satisfying. Dimitri was still walking beside me as I walked the short distance to my home.

"You don't have to pretend that you are my guardian on your time off, you know. Go home, get some sleep," I urged him. I was rewarded with a small tug at the corner of his lips.

"And you don't have to use your energy on saving the world, but yet here we are." There was a small silence. "What did you and Prince Tarus talk about?" It was almost as if he was nervous, which was very uncharacteristic. Then again, the world as we knew it might be coming to an end, that could scare even big strong Dimitri Belikov.

"Everything, pretty much. He knew most of it already, and he is on our side. Our mission is to make sure he wins. He thinks Lissa might try to assassinate him before the election." There was no answer, so I guess he wasn't surprised.

"You are musing. There is something you haven't told the others. A plan." He knew me too well.

"I still have a big advantage."

"The bond." I nodded.

"I am going to try and force my way in. If I can get in her head, maybe I can make sense of all of this. Rufus thinks it is more complex than we can imagine, and that it has spun out of proportions. I want him to be right." I admitted. If Rufus was right, maybe there was a way to save Lissa.

"I need your help with something," I confessed. Part of me felt bad for asking, knowing he wouldn't be able to tell me no.

"Does it involve murder?" I giggled.

"No, it doesn't."

He gave me a light shrug. "Even if it did I would have been in." I felt the heat creep onto my cheeks. That was lowkey one of the most romantic things he had said to me ever. It was a lot more romantic than my request.

"I need you to sneak me outside the wards."

 **Okay, so no one got punched in the face... yet. Next time tho, I promise. Next up is Rose in Lissa-land, a much-needed apology, and Jesse is back!**


	17. The scorned lover

R pov

24 hours. In 24 hours, I would have helped Victor into the most secure city in our society, figured out who was behind this scam and, hopefully, helped Rufus through the next test. 24 hours left, and then, maybe, I could finally get some much-needed sleep. In the next twenty-four hours, all I had to do was keep a low profile. Proved to be hard enough: As promised, I had spent last night trying to force my way back into Lissa's head. I had expected to have free access to all the answers from there on, but it had proven to be surprisingly uninformative. I found that there was nothing on Lissa's mind currently, other than wedding plans and baby names. Not even a tiny little side thought of revolution and the destruction of society. Nothing but dreams that would make any chauvinistic conservative male proud. It was scary, honestly. You would think it was a completely different person from the Lissa I knew had to be in there somewhere. Of course, I had considered that maybe it was all just an illusion, but after having searched every corner of her mind, used all of my energy on breaking down her walls only to find nothing there, I was starting to doubt the conspiracy. It appeared that she had been blocking me out all to protect the secret of the color of her underwear. Jesus. I would have to check in on her several times a day if I wanted to get the information that I needed. It wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for all the other things I had to do, but I would have to manage. But the frequent check-ins gave me some advantages, which was why I knew she was on my doorstep before she even knocked.

What now? I took a deep breath to calm my thoughts, plastered on a face that wasn't hostile and opened the door. She stood outside in a white pantsuit with a pastel shirt and a sorry expression. Her hair hung loose and framed her face in soft waves.

"Lissa."

She tried to offer me an apologetic smile, "can I come in?" She asked pleadingly.

"I rather not, the house is a mess. Besides, anything you have to say to me, you can say where there are witnesses." Maybe I was being a bit harsh on her, but I wasn't the one putting targets on my best friends back.

Her lower lip quivered. "Rose... I am so sorry! I don't know what happened, I swear. I wasn't being myself! Of course, we aren't going to have a double wedding. The only reason I am having mine now is- you know why. You have plenty of time to make your wedding perfect, which you should. It was so silly: I am being hormonal and, I guess I am just trying to ask for your forgiveness?" She finished off with big pleading eyes.

Did I want to forgive her? No.

Was it the smart thing to do? Probably.

What ended up swaying me was when I checked the bond. She was trying to send me feelings that confirmed her guilt, but when I checked all I found was the fear of losing me. Her mind was filled with images of all the thousand ways I could turn her down and cast her away. Didn't fit with her attempts at killing me, but whatever.

"Sure Liss. Of course, I forgive you. I'll admit that I overreacted a little, but I am not going to be your maid of honor again. I am sorry, but I don't think it is smart with everything else going on," I reasoned.

"That is okay: I already promoted Michela. I just want to be friends again," she assured me, and I gave in. I could pretend we were best friends, at least for a while. She opened her arms up to me, and I reluctantly gave her a small hug. It was weird how this woman who had the same blond hair, the same green eyes, and the same sweet voice could be so different from the monster I encountered yesterday. Silently, I wondered if any of them was real. Perhaps, both were, and the fake one was the Lissa I remembered and who now existed only in my memories. "Will you come join us at the salon? We are having our hair and nails done and I thought, well, that is if you still want to be a regular bridesmaid?" She asked, no, begged, and I couldn't tell her no.

"Of course, I will. Someone has to save Jill from Michela's claws," I joked. Jill and Michela had not come off from a good start yesterday, and I had to admit that it had made me like Jill a lot more.

Lissa giggled, but it died out as she sent me a gaze full of fondness and love. "Thank you, Rose."

And so I ended up at the salon, with five royal moroi women and not enough staff to please them all.

"Abby, you have to try this balm: It is so soft!" Camille exclaimed, and closed her eyes in pleasure as the dermatologist did her work. Abby laughed at her expression but gasped as the woman attending to her feet hauled off a big chunk of dead skin.

"Has Christian decided on who is to be his groomsmen yet?" She asked Lissa once she recovered from her embarrassment. Lissa's smile held more than one secret as she picked out the shade for her nails.

"Most of them, yes, but he won't tell me who he has picked," she confessed. I had a feeling it was because most of them were dhampir. Christian had never gotten along with the other royals. I couldn't see how he would be able to avoid having Adrian there, but aside from him, I had no idea who he would pick.

"I hope it is someone hot and single," Camille sighed. She was still single, much to her dislike, and apparently, a little desperate as well. Jill and Abby both agreed while Michela was being conveniently quiet. It was then I remembered Michela had gotten married a few years back. So much for keeping Mia out.

"Speaking of hot and single. Girls, why don't I go and see if I can find us some eye-candy?" I asked them, remembering I needed to speak to Ambrose. They squealed excitedly so I took that as a yes. The receptionist had no idea where he was but informed me that he was scheduled to have a shift, so I decided to check Ronda's chamber. As I got closer to her magic cave I heard raised voices. I decided to hide behind the corner and see if it was something of significance.

"Look, I am sorry about Tatiana, I am. I cared for her too," Ambrose insisted. He sounded distressed and trapped.

"The hell you are! You never cared for her. All you wanted was her money and power!" An angry voice yelled. It was a voice that I recognized but couldn't quite place.

"That isn't true," Ambrose insisted again.

"Her condition got worse for each passing day. You must have noticed!" The other man yelled again. I had to clasp a hand over my mouth to stop myself from gasping. Adrian!

"She was getting older. I didn't think anything of it!" Ambrose exclaimed.

"She wasn't that old! You never alarmed anyone. Never asked any questions. No one was as close to her as you were! Maybe you did it!?" Adrian was getting closer and closer to the truth. It was exactly the same questions I wanted to ask, but I couldn't risk Adrian finding out as well. Not when I didn't know were his loyalty was.

Without thinking, I left my hiding spot, strolled around the corner and plastered on my maneater smile.

"Ambrose, there you are! I have been looking everywhere for you! I have some very pretty girls who need your special expertise," I purred, dragging out the last part while I snaked my hand up around his bicep.

He looked from me to Adrian and back to me while he found his own handsome smile. "Well if the ladies need me, then who am I to deny them?" I giggled and looked at Adrian like I only just noticed him.

"Honey, hi. I am sorry, I couldn't make it this morning. Lissa stepped by and invited me to the spa with the other bridesmaids," I apologized, trying to seem genuine. Adrian found his usual charming attitude and kissed my cheek.

"Of course, darling. Enjoy. I am glad you two are on speaking terms again." 'Of course, you are you sneaky bastard,' was what I thought. What I said was:

"Thank you, honey. I'll see you later. Take care."

Then I quickly pulled off with Ambrose. He was happy to get away from Adrian and set a fast pace down the hallway.

"Thank you for saving me there," he muttered, eyes scanning the hallway.

"No problem, but you know I am going to need the answer to those questions right?"

He glanced at me. "Figures. I don't know anything. Really."

I rolled my eyes at his claimed innocence. "Bullshit. I need to know everything you got."

He made a grimace but pulled me aside. He locked the door behind him so no one would walk in on us. "Okay, but I am only going to tell you once. Dashkov asked for my help. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, but then I caught a glimpse-"

"You got curious."

He frowned and his forehead wrinkled as he shook his head. "Horrified. I agreed to do everything he asked from there on. I think he was behind Tatiana's death." Okay so clearly not all theories were right.

"He wasn't, don't ask how I know that. What did you do?" Ambrose cringed and looked around.

"Her bedtime tea." I felt both my brows rise in surprise. He what? Part of me felt sorry for Tatiana: Being poisoned from more than one side was gruesome. Then I remembered she tried to kill me and got over it.

"Why? I thought you cared for her?"

His lips pressed together in a thin line. I was about to run out of goodwill. "I did. The old her. Something changed as she got older: She became ruthless. She didn't care for anything or anyone anymore. Nothing held meaning to her. I did what I had to do: For society, for me and for you. She had plans for you, you know."

I nodded "Yeah, yeah, murder and all that."

He looked at me with a grim expression. "Worse. Rose, she thought of us as pawns. Just means to make her vision come true. I did it for you." I was getting tired of people justifying murder with their loyalty to me, yet I had never felt more loved. Apparently, all of my friends were involved in murder and high treason. Should I be offended that I wasn't invited?

"She had a plan, what was it?" Ambrose wrenched.

"I can't tell you, not here, but I can show you. Come by later and I will have everything ready for you, but Rose... Those things, they can't be unseen," he warned me. I was getting more and more anxious about it. If three of my friends had wanted Tatiana dead, enough to poison her, then it must be something horrific.

"I know, but I have to know. Ambrose... Where did you get the poison?" He glimpsed like he was caught off guard by my question.

"Daskov. Who else?" That made no sense. Why would Victor get the poison and not tell me? Why redirect me? I was lost.

"Victor?!"

"No, Robert." Ahh shit. I didn't even know what that meant, but it didn't feel good.

"Right... Thank you, Ambrose." He checked that the hall was clear then he lead me out of the room and we walked back to the girls.

I had to fake a smile and pretend like my head wasn't spinning with this information. "Girls, look who I found!" They cheered like horny bachelorettes as Ambrose smirked and flashed his muscles. At least someone was having a blast. He started with Jill, who blushed furiously, and I smiled to myself as I leaned back and let an employee start on my nails.

"Are you sure about that color?" Michela asked suddenly, glancing skeptically at the falcon on the table.

I took a second look and shrugged. It was ox red and looked fabulous. "Yeah?"

She pursed her lips and looked at her own manicure. "Okay, your choice." You could hear the silence as the chat died down.

"Excuse me?" I wasn't sure what she was implying, but I sure as hell felt pissed.

She glanced at me with a daring smile. "Well, it is just: You are always so provocative. I would have thought now that you are to be royalty you would want to be a little more... Conservative." I had to catch my jaw before it hit the floor. WTF?!

"Do you have a problem with my attire?" I was trying so hard not to rip her head off it hurt.

She shrugged carelessly. "No, it is your choice. It is just- It reflects badly on Lissa. Actually: We talked about it, and you may want a different design for your bridesmaid dress." She dropped the bomb effortlessly. It was magnificent, but I was a little too pissed to appreciate the beauty. Instead, I glared at Lissa, who looked completely shocked.

"Is that true?!" I demanded. She shook her head furiously.

"No, I swear. We talked about choosing the best design for EVERYONE's figure. We didn't consider a special design for you," she insisted trying to smoothen out the issue.

Michela snorted arrogantly. "Oh come on Liss, you said it yourself: Everyone else can carry just about anything, but Rose needs a special fitting. It isn't anything bad, just that you have a few more curves. They are beautiful, but you will look like a blood whore if you don't cover up a little." That was the last straw. Without thinking, I curled my fingers into a fist and hauled it into Michela's face.

"Well, you aren't going to be seeing much of it. Are you?" I threw at her as she fell to the floor, clutching her left eye and screaming in pain. It was a perfect uppercut - I was kind of proud. Lissa gasped and let out a strangled cry. Two of the dermatologists quickly kneeled to Michela. She was fuming with anger, trying to get up so she could fight me - as if she had a chance. Ambrose and Camille were both at my side, trying to act as a human shield between Michela and me.

"Rose, we need to leave," Camille hissed. I don't think she was angry at me per see, but she was definitely concerned about the scene we were causing.

"Someone get a guard!" Michela yelled from her place on the floor. Jill came up to us and took Ambrose place. She and Camille each put a hand on my shoulders and lightly pushed me towards the exit. Ambrose stayed behind and tried to talk sense into everyone as the sound of footsteps was getting louder. He failed terribly: Not a moment later, I felt a splash of cold water hit me from a sink nearby. I gasped in surprise as I was suddenly soaking wet and felt anger wield up again, but not enough to go back there and fight her. I felt slightly ashamed now that I realized what I had done. Punching someone who didn't know how to defend herself, I had taken advantage of my superiority. While my moral was winning me over, the water had started moving and went around my neck to try and suffocate me. I clawed at it, but it was no use. I got more and more desperate, both Jill and Camille started screaming, while I was slowly running out of air. Then suddenly it stopped. I looked behind me and saw Michela, who was starring terrified up at the tall figure above her. It was Lissa, and boy was she pissed. I felt through the bond, and I was almost overwhelmed by the anger I found there. Michela overstepped the moment she touched me.

I tried to get to her, knowing my presence would calm her down. I was hesitant to pull the darkness from her, knowing it could easily overwhelm me: I was already angry. I didn't even get two feet towards her before the world started spinning. My vision blurred while the voices sounded miles away. Then everything went dark.

* * *

When I got through, voices were still shouting everywhere. I looked up and saw Ambrose leaning over me with furrowed brows.

"Are you okay?" I gave him a slight nod and tried to sit up but felt my head hurt. I moved a hand back to check for blood but found none.

"You fainted. Jillian tried to catch you, but your backhead collided pretty hard with her shoulder. It shouldn't lead to an injury," he explained. I looked past him to the many people shouting, trying to make sense of it.

"Lissa?" I tried to ask him, but my voice was hoarse from the choking. Someone else appeared beside him and asked him to come to give a statement. He didn't want to leave me, but Christian came up to us, offering to replace him.

"Hi Rose," Christian gave me a slight smile. I tried to answer, but my throat felt more and more swelled. "Don't try to speak. She did quite a number on you there. Hans is here to figure out who can raise charges. Lissa is being moved to the infirmary: She passed out shortly after you did. Michela is there too, but they are separated. Dimitri is here - he is talking to Hans, but he will be here in a minute. I called Rufus, he couldn't make it, but he asked that I take you to him when we are released. We tried to get a hold of Adrian, but he isn't answering," he summed up for me. I looked around to get a view of everyone. Hans was talking to Dimitri in the corner. Several guardians were here to get statements. Camille and Abby were still here, but I couldn't see Jill.

Christian took my hand as he spotted Hans moving towards us. Hans stopped at my foot end and looked at me with a tired sigh.

"Why is it always you, Hathaway?" If I could speak, I would have asked him the same thing. Why was it always me? He wrinkled his nose and took out his pen.

"I know you can't speak so I am just going to ask a few questions and you can answer with nods and hand gestures, alright?" I gave him a curt nod. "Good, follow the pen please," he moved the pen in different directions: Up and down, and to the tip of my nose. "Alright, how many fingers do you see?" He held up four fingers and I copied. "Good. Give me a nod if you were fifteen when you first meet your father." I stayed still. "And if your name is Rosemarie Cornelia Hathaway?" I glared but nodded. "And if you are known for reckless and compulsive behavior?" I gave him the finger. "Alright, I don't think you have a concussion. I have taken statements, but I need you to confirm a few things for me: First of all - did you throw the first punch?" I opened my mouth to protest, but he stopped me. "No words, just yes or no." I glared but nodded. "And you did so following lady Badica's use of inappropriate langue, which I will not repeat?" I nodded more subtly. Hans sighed. "Then she tried to choke you?" I nodded.

"Before you retreated?" I shook my head.

"After? You were walking away, and she attacked you?" I nodded. It seemed to come as a surprise to him that she was a bitch.

"Did she stop when princess Dragomir told her to?" I shook my head. Hans gave me a skeptical look, probably considering if I had a concussion after all. "She didn't stop?" I nodded. He furrowed his brows - I could see the wheels turn. "Princess Dragomir didn't tell her to?" I shook my head. "Someone else did?" I shook my head. "She stopped on her own free will?" I shook my head. Hans frowned but wrote it down. "Alright, now to something a little more personal: Guardian Belikov has been telling me you have had problems with fainting. Is that true?"

I shrugged, not giving him a clear answer.

"How many times this week?"

I held up a finger.

"Since last Tuesday?"

I pouted but held up five fingers.

Hans sighed, shaking his head at me. "Rose, Rose, Rose. What am I gonna do with you?" I sent him a smirk to tell him I had an idea, but he ignored me. "You should be in the hospital, but it is filled. Prince Tarus has asked that you are moved to his place when you are done here. I am sending a nurse to check on you and make sure you aren't seriously injured. I would really like if you had a guardian with you considering you have fired all of your bodyguards."

I held up a finger to signal I still had one.

"All but one, who is currently checking your banking and insurance, on your order, because nothing you do ever makes sense," he corrected. I rolled my eyes without objecting. To Hans, it probably didn't make any sense, but Hans was a practical genie.

Christian squeezed my hand and came to my rescue. "Excuse me, guardian Croft? If you don't mind, I would like for guardian Belikov to be assigned to Miss Hathaway. I can manage with guardian Castle instead that is if you can spare him?" Hans sent him a weird look but nodded. It was unusual for a moroi to offer to give up his guardian.

"Of course lord Ozera. Will you be returning to the palace chambers?" Christian shook his head.

"No, I'd like to go home, to my own house if that is possible." I panicked. Victor would be at that house. I grabbed Christian's hand tighter with both of mine and tried to tell him it was a bad idea with my eyes. He didn't get it but dropped going home. "Or, maybe I will be with Rose at Tarus's. At least as long as she needs me." I relaxed and gave him a nod hoping I could explain it to him later. Hans nodded and left us, probably not giving two shits about it. Christian turned his attention to me and helped me stand. "Can you walk?" I nodded, but once I was on my own, I started swaying. Before I had time to regain balance, Dimitri swept me up in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck per reflex but felt a little offended at the lack of confidence in my ability to walk. Christian held the door so Dimitri could continue to carry me. "I know you can't talk right now, but we are here for you Rose, trust that," he reassured me. I gave him a curt nod in response. Sure they were, the alternative was death. Dimitri tightened his grip around me as people started to gather to get a look. Bravely, he and Christian got me through the hoards while they tried to shield me from prying eyes. Rufus' house wasn't far away and Leland opened the door promptly - we were expected. Rufus came down in an instant. For once there wasn't an army of employees around him.

"Lord Ozera! Thank you for bringing her. Guardian Belikov, you can put her in the living room," he commanded, as he strolled down to us. Dimitri put me on the uncomfortable fancy couch in Rufus living room, while the host himself pulled out a bottle of Cognac.

"Here, it is good for the throat," he recommended as he purred me one. He then handed out to the others as well. "I have heard we are soldier buddies," he commented and held his own glass up in a gesture. Christian gave him a small nod and downed the glass, while Dimitri looked at the glass skeptically. I rolled my eyes and downed my own. It was good, really good. Rufus was about to say something else but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Christian went to answer it, leaving me in Rufus care.

"You are not a nurse," I heard his dry voice from the entrance hall. Shortly after, he and Ambrose showed up in the door opening. Ambrose was carrying a big brown cardboard box and some paper holsters.

"Hi Rose," Ambrose greeted, "sorry about the chaos. I promised you a few things." He raised the box to make a point.

I waved him over, but he didn't come any closer.

"I should go - I have a thing, but can I leave this somewhere private?" He asked pointedly. I reached out to Rufus and poked his arm. He looked at me with furrowed brows but took the hint to do something.

"You can leave them in my office, kid, it is right upstairs. Here let me show you." He grabbed Ambrose's leather-clad shoulder and lead him upstairs. Christian waited until they were out of earreach before he turned towards me.

"Is that something we are going to have a talk about?" I nodded, but I wasn't very well able to comment on it. Shortly after, another knock on the door was heard. Christian offered to open it again and returned with a moroi woman. She was around thirty and wearing white scrubs, carrying a bag that looked quite heavy.

"I think this one is for you, Rose," he commented. The woman kneeled and offered me her hand to shake.

"Council member Hathaway, it is a pleasure. My name is Madelaine Green. I am a nurse, and I am here to take a look at you. If the gentlemen would please leave the room?" She asked pointedly. Both Christian and Dimitri took the cue and left hastily. Once the door was closed, she started feeling my neck and took a look down my throat. She opened her bag and took out a pair of gloves, a stick, and a small flashlight. "Please open," she asked and put the stick on my tongue, so she could have a better look using the flashlight. "All right, I don't see much swelling, but your vocal cords have suffered some light trauma. I don't think it is severe, but you should probably see a doctor soon," was her conclusion. She looked in her papers. "I am mostly concerned about the loss of consciousness. Do you faint often?" I hesitated but then nodded: She was a professional after all. "Do you know what may have caused it?" I shrugged to tell her I had no idea. "Alright, let me run a few tests."

She started by taking my blood pressure and percentage, then she took a few blood tests as well. "The tests will probably give us a clear answer once we get the results back. Is it possible you could be pregnant?" She asked concerned. I thought it over. Normally, I would have said no way. However, I had been active lately, with a moroi, and while we always used protection, I wouldn't put it past Adrian to poke a hole in a condom. Not with what I had learned these past few days. I wasn't on the pill, so it was a possibility. Deciding to let the woman do her job, I gave her a slight nod. She looked through her bag and found a pregnancy test. "The blood test will tell, but I want to rule it out already. Stay here: I will go tell the men to go somewhere else, so you can use the bathroom in peace."

She was lovely to talk to, or well, not talk to. As promised she asked Christian, Dimitri and Rufus and Ambrose who had finished upstairs to go into the kitchen. Ambrose excused himself and practically bolted out of there, while the others went upstairs instead. I sneaked into the bathroom, locked the door and pulled out the stick. Deciding that I wouldn't be able to keep a steady pressure for ten seconds, I used the cup instead. With the stick prepared, I walked out and handed it to her. She put it on the table, while she used the waiting time to check in with the infirmary. I didn't pay much attention to her phone call before she had some news for me. "A doctor will be with you as soon as we have the test answers. You will have to stay here for a few hours, but I promise I will make it a priority," she vowed, then took a look at the stick. "It is negative. Hopefully, that is the result you wanted." I sighed in relief. She left without further comments, and I went upstairs to Rufus' office where guys were probably already in the middle of reading whatever Ambrose had brought over. I just hoped I could explain my suspicion to them without my voice.

As I arrived in the office I found there were more men in there than I had predicted. Jesse was in the middle of explaining something to Rufus when I arrived. He looked me over, I could only imagine how I looked after the day I had.

"Damn, they weren't kidding. I am afraid I have more bad news: We got a problem." No kidding. It seemed all we had was problems. When this was over, I should seriously start a problem-solving business. I could even guess what the problem was or rather who. Ralf Sarcozy.

 **Wauw that took a while to get done! Sorry about that! Next up: Rose gets her suspicions confirmed, Victor Dashkov makes a shocking return to the social scene, and Christian finally gets to confront Lissa. Also, the blackouts get explained. Review, please!**


	18. The bottom of the rabbit hole

**Are you still there? Sorry about not updating for a while, I was finishing a novel... As an apology, this is one of the longest chapters yet. I hope you are all okay in the heat, in Denmark we have finally come to terms with it.**

R pov

It was dark and quiet. The air was humid and I felt restless from sitting still all day. A sudden wave of dizziness hit me, and I had to focus extra hard on the details not lose myself in a blackout.

"Are you okay?" Jesse asked, glancing at me with another worried look. He was still watching the screen on the computer and updating wildly to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

"Yeah I am fine," I choked out. Something squeaked, making us both jump. There wasn't anything there, there never was. "God, I hate this place!" I groaned, and Jesse hummed in agreement.

"Only a few more hours," he muttered, leaning against the wall beside me.

What were we doing here, in the long-abandoned, cold, slightly wet, corridor in the basement underneath court, you might ask? Well, let me get you up to date: _After unfolding the stuff Ambrose brought over, we all agreed it was a good thing Tatiana was dead, otherwise, we would have had to kill her. Not only were her plans evil and narrowminded, but they were also ignorant and straight-up idiotic. If I didn't know better, I'd say she had been struck by sudden dementia. This wasn't something you'd expect to find in a queens quarters._

 _After going through the nauseating bunch of papers, Jesse told me what he had: A friend had tipped him about Ralf - you remember Ralf from highschool. Allegedly, Ralf had gotten drunk and loudly declared some very explicit threats towards me. Normally, that wouldn't have been something to worry too much about, but when Ralf booked a ticket to court a few days later, Jesse got concerned. So, he looked into Ralf's bankings, and it turned out he had been making some very big donations to Natasha Ozera's old fundings. The same ones that had been connected to some of my attempted assassinations. I don't think I need to tell you Christian was excited to get cleared of that one._

 _Now, apparently, Ralf was here, and it was the last thing I needed._

 _Rufus and I had decided it was better if we shared our person-profile of who we thought was behind this: A half-royal, probably an illegitimate child, who felt cheated. We decided Ralf Sarcozy wasn't a bad guess, seeing as his mother had been a Voda, and with Jesse's help, we managed to get a look into his whereabouts. He was supposed to be staying in the guest housing here at court, so I called the front desk and had Eylem put in the room next to his to keep an eye on him._

 _I hadn't had the chance to share my concerns about Lissa yet but decided I would talk to Christian as soon as I could. Rufus wanted me to move into my old room until everything was fixed, but I didn't think it was safe and neither did Guardian Leland. Going back to my father's house was an option I'd rather avoid, seeing as Adrian had free access. In the end, Jesse offered for Dimitri and me to stay with him in the apartment he normally shared with Mia. His guardian, Ryan - you remember Ryan from high school - would be there as well. It seemed to be the best solution, and it gave me plenty of opportunities to discuss things with Jesse, on paper, of course - my voice had to rest._ _He had ultimately taken it upon himself to help me with my Victor problem. We had sneaked a laptop from the security office, and thanks to my former status as head of logistics, we were able to get into the system. We had set it up down here where we could survey the electronic signals while staying out of sight, which brings us to the present_.

"Alright, Marie Conta just left," he announced, finally getting the signal we were waiting for. I pulled out my phone and texted Victor, ' _10 min, go!_ ' I didn't know yet what would go on in there with Ekatherina, but now was Victor's window to find out. I figured he hadn't undergone the same spell that the others had to keep them from discussing the tests with others, but somehow I had a feeling Victor would honor the tests anyway. Ekaterina Zeklos was probably the eldest woman alive. She was the former queen, and she had stepped in to design the games as Tatiana wouldn't be able to.

"Rose? Lissa just checked in," I cursed. Of course, she did! Pulling out my phone again, I called Christian. 'pick up, pick up, pick up!' I mentally ranted. Finally, he answered on the third ring.

"Sparkey? How far are you from the palace?" I asked without waiting for further introduction.

"Rose? I am in the exit room, waiting for Lissa, why?" He asked, seeming oblivious.

"She just checked in and it isn't her turn yet. Go, distract her - it only has to be a few minutes," I ordered.

He started to protest, "but why do I-"

"Go!"

"Okay, okay, I am going!" He hung up, but I checked through the bond to make sure he made it in time. Lissa was walking towards the doors at a striking space. The guard out front had told her it wasn't her turn yet, but that it wouldn't matter if she was early. Idiot! Luckily, Christian moved into her view just in time, avoiding disaster.

"Liss! Wait up!" She stopped up, looking at him confused.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him, sounding almost offended. A peek into her feelings told me she was annoyed. Usually, whenever Christian was present, I could feel warm and fuzzy feelings wield up. There weren't any of those feelings now: He was in her way, and she wanted to know why.

"I came to support you. Do you feel ready?" She crossed her arms, looking at him coldly.

"Hard to know when you don't know what awaits you," she stated. Christians smile faltered a little. "Well, I am sure you will do fine! You handled the last one perfectly," he praised, but Lissa just felt bored.

"Right... Was there anything you wanted? Because I have to go in there," she pointed at the door making Christian frown.

"Already? I was hoping to get you a minute to myself first," he coed and touched her arm affectingly. She was about to pull away, angry that he was wasting her time, but Christian acted quickly and pulled her in for a kiss. Something snapped inside her and I was sent flying backward out of her head and into darkness. I opened my own eyes to see a concerned Jesse leaning over me, holding me up by my arm.

"Are you okay? You passed out for a moment-" I gave him a quick nod and tried to get back into Lissa's head. I couldn't get full access, but I felt what she was experiencing. They were kissing, and she was happy that they were. The usual warm fuzzy feelings were all present, and she felt much calmer now that he was here. She tried to remember where they were, but couldn't remember much since leaving to go to the test. It was all those nerves, she scolded herself, she was stressing too much, and it was bad for the baby. She already felt like a horrible mother.

It was so weird, this was so far from the Lissa from before. I didn't have time to wonder too much, because Victor's ten minutes were up. The figures on the phone seemed frozen until he finally called me as promised.

"Rose? I am out. Now, how do I avoid the crowds?" He asked me hushed.

I tensed a little. Out already? "Did you go out the same way you got in?"

"No, I figured the next candidate would be there, Ekaterina helped me out through the backdoor to avoid the exit room. I am in Haakon's corridor."

I cursed. Haakon's corridor was impossible to get out of undetected: It was placed directly across from the tech room that survived the entire palace. Luckily Jesse had our backs: He pulled up an electronic map of the place. "Alright, there is an old closed of fire-escape on your left. You can see it by the slight cliff in the wallpaper. If you have a credit card on you, use it to break through the wallpaper, and slide it down as fast as you can, that should open the lock. You can then open it by punching ninety centimeters to the left and about a hundred and eighteen centimeters from the ground. There was a lot of noise as he followed my instructions.

"I found the cliff, but it isn't opening."

"Probably a little stuck. Try to kick about twenty centimeters high, as you punch." There was a loud bang, so I assumed he succeeded.

"Alright, I am on my way out, do your magic." He hung up, and I cursed again. Chances that he didn't know what he was doing was pretty big, but I had to try my luck on this one. I turned to Jesse and asked him to do his magic. He hit the button and wiped clean the memory chart, then we started to manually check-in each person who had accessed the area. We got through all of them in the two minutes we had, before red lights would go off in the surveillance-room. Just as I thought, we had pulled it off, my phone rang.

"Rose Hathaway speaking," I called, trying to seem natural.

"Hathaway! How far are you from the palace?" Hans angry voice barked. I looked around and decided that telling him I was right beneath it, wasn't the best option.

"I am home, sleeping. Why?" I asked, pretending to be groggy.

"We have a problem: Someone unaccounted for has turned up on the surveillance, and we don't know how they got in."

Who is it?"

"Well, if we knew, we wouldn't need you, would we?" He growled. I held the phone at a safe distance so it wouldn't damage my hearing.

"Well, how did you find out?" I was hoping he wouldn't say the memory had been cleared.

"The system updated, and suddenly there were five new check-ins on un-authorized cards. We can't find the error, the door shouldn't even have opened for them." I let out a quick sigh of relief. At least it wasn't anything we were related to. I gave Jesse a quick thumbs up to tell him all was good.

"I'll be there in a minute. Get someone to search the halls manually and surround the exam room. Ekaterina is our main focus, the contestants are second. With Tatiana dead, she is practically queen, so make sure nothing happens to her. I want everyone who has accessed the area interrogated to check if they have seen anything suspicious. Get the necessary back up from the administration and private hire. Call me if you find anything!" I ordered and hung up. Jesse had closed down the laptop and looked at me warily.

"Everything okay?" I shook my head.

"No, there has been a break-in. Another break-in. I don't know how, but I think we busted them when we closed down the system. If you could come with me, that would be a great help."

He nodded and put the computer in his bag. "Sure, let's go, boss," he joked. I forced a small smile. I really did not need this today. We exited the same way we got in, which placed us in the entrance-hall where Dimitri had reluctantly agreed to hang around until we were done.

Hans had done as I asked and gotten the necessary back up. When we got to the main office, they had someone checking every camera, and guardians were roaming the halls everywhere.

"You found anything?" I yelled to him across the room. He shook his head but pointed to a screen a tech guy was working at.

"Not yet. We have checked through, and it seems that aside from the contestants, five seemingly anonymous cards were used. They entered at the same time, this morning before anyone else was supposed to enter, meaning they have been lurking around for a while. There was a reboot on the software, so it turned up, and asked us to confirm all check-ins from the past twenty-four hours."

I looked at Jesse - that was our reboot. Hopefully, only the check-ins we did manually was registered. "And everything else adds up?" I asked clarifying. Hans nodded and stepped over to another guy.

"Yes, we found the flicker on the tape, it was put to run in laps, so it would seem the halls were empty when they weren't," he explained, and showed us the footage. He was right, it was a small flicker, almost unnoticeable.

"Jesse, would you mind take a look, and see if you can locate the source? Someone deliberately put that footage in place of something else. Guardian Croft, did you do the clearing, as I asked?" He gave me a brief nod. I looked over the cameras, checking for blind angles and trying to figure out where five people would be hiding - if they were still around.

"Alright, call in Ivar Tjekovic and get him to go over every possible hidden place in the building. Get old construction plans and everything else you might be able to get your hands on. I'll be in the exit room, making sure personally that no one gets in that way." 'And keeping an eye on princess Dragomir,' I mentally added. Ivar was living legend, one of the best, and I had full confidence that he would be able to clear the building. Meanwhile, I was going to test a theory. Lissa should be done right about now, and I knew Christian would be waiting for her right outside the door. I needed a small piece of that conversation to see if what I felt earlier would repeat itself. I felt Dimitri follow me like a shadow as I exited and steered towards the other entrance to the exit room - not the one Victor used. As I figured, I was right on time and decided to hide around the corner from the door. The building was ancient, so they had to install ventilation between the rooms and the hall, which meant you could listen in by standing next to the ventilation shaft. Lissa's guardians were stationed outside the regular exit along with Eddie, so I had to stay where I couldn't be seen. Luckily, I had seen the old plans of the building when we arranged security and knew where to be. I could check the bond, but I wanted to be in my own body if anything happened.

"How did it go?" I heard Christian ask. His voice was lowered by the distance, but I could confirm his words through the bond. She felt nervous and anxious, the experience of being in there still tingling in her body.

"Good, I think. I have a lot to think about," she answered and embraced herself. She was glad he was here for her. The truth was she didn't know who she could trust these days, but Christian was always there for the big stuff. If only she knew...

"Liss, I don't mean to be rude, but there is something I would like to discuss with you," Christian started. Part of me wanted to burst in there and stop him. The other wanted to know where this was going.

"She told you, didn't she?" Lissa guessed. After our argument in the bridal store, she had had a feeling not all of her secrets were as safe as they used to. Luckily, Christian was a loyal soldier, however, or maybe he was just talking about something else.

"I found out on my own. When were you planning to enlighten me?" He asked calmly. I was impressed by how well he handled it.

"I don't know. I know I should have told you first, but then everything was going so well, and I figured you didn't need to know until after..." After the wedding. Lissa thought Christian was talking about her pregnancy.

"You don't think I would have noticed?" He asked a little more accusingly. She flinched. Of course, he would have noticed a baby.

"I was hoping you wouldn't. Not until after the wedding at least. I should have figured out that was why you proposed. It was all too good to be true," she mumbled sadly. She had hoped he had proposed simply out of love.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Christian asked suddenly.

Lissa felt hope and confusion overtake her. "The baby? What are you talking about?" Dread filled her. Had she just accidentally told Christian about her pregnancy?

"Your plan to destroy the world as we know it?" He asked startled.

She was shocked. "What?!"

"What?" He countered.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," she declared. I searched her mind and found the statement to be sincere. She had no idea. Yet, something was missing. Although this was rather interesting to watch, I decided to interrupt before anything got out of hand. I turned around the corner elegantly and stalked down the hall to the guarded door. I strolled past the guards and stormed in, to seem like I was in a hurry.

"Guys, there you are! The palace has been compromised: Croft asked that Lissa is evacuated right away! Christian, you should come with me, we all need to get out of here!" I exclaimed. Lissa shot Christian one last wondering glance, then turned her attention to me. Relieved that I hadn't spilled her secret after all - although, I had - she was now feeling very generous towards me.

"Rose! Thank you for coming. Please take care of Christian, I will probably be put somewhere isolated," she asked. I gave her a nod to tell her I heard her, and a quick hug, telling her to keep safe. Grant and Serena were already behind me, and they flaked her sides while getting her out safely. Once they were gone, I turned to face Christian.

"How much did you hear?" He asked.

"Everything."

"And? Was she telling the truth?"

I looked back towards the door to see if anyone was listening, then nodded. "Yeah, I think she was. Something is wrong, Christian: I don't think Lissa herself is aware of what she is doing. It is like there are two of her, and they are not on speaking terms. When you confronted her, she had no idea. She was sweet old Lissa, but outside before she went in, that was not the feeling I received. Just now she acted all surprised, and it seemed genuine, but at the same time, normally real surprise causes like, a big smack in the brain, and it didn't. She knew, she just didn't know that she knew," I explained. Christian nodded thoughtfully. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to find it crazy.

"I have a theory. Can I tell you now, or is there really a security breach?"

"Oh, the breach is real enough. We should get out of here," I confirmed, but instead of heading for the door I went behind him. I wanted to evacuate Ekaterina myself, not leave it to some random guardian.

Ekaterina was older than I expected. She was even missing a few teeth, but she smiled at me anyway and acted every bit the queen, I had been told, she had been.

"Your majesty, my name is Rosemarie Hathaway, I am here to escort you from the palace," I greeted her formally. I hadn't met her before and figured titles were in order.

"I am well aware of who you are, Miss Hathaway, and I am no queen. I left that life behind many years ago."

I considered for a moment. She hadn't asked me to use an informal title, so I did the best I could: "Then please, your highness, princess Ekaterina Zeklos former queen of moroi and dhampire, let me escort you to safety," I requested. Ekaterina smiled with closed lips and gave me a formal nod. I offered her my arm for support, but she declined.

"I am sure lord Ozera won't mind lending me an arm. You need your strength miss Hathaway, and both hands," she told me wisely. I had a pretty good idea to what she was talking about. Christian came up and offered her his arm instead, which she took. She held her head high, and for a woman her age, she still had a great posture. When we exited, I made a sign for Dimitri to follow behind with Eddie. If we were attacked from the front, it would be easier to move forward than backward. It proved to be a good strategy. We weren't even halfway out when we were attacked. Four hooded gunmen came up behind us, but thanks to our foresight, they were spotted by Dimitri and Eddie before they could fire. Reacting like a textbook example, they shoved Ektherina and Christian behind them, using themselves as a human shield and pulled their guns from their jackets. They both emptied their magazines at our attackers, who had now found the trigger themselves. My priority was Ekatherina, but I didn't want any of my friends getting hurt either. The obvious thing to do was seek shelter behind the corner, and with Eddie and Dimitri backing up towards us, it certainly felt like a wise choice, but I had a bad feeling. Hans said five people had gotten in unauthorized, I had only seen four. So logically, the last one would be somewhere ahead of us, as the others lured us into the trap. I pulled my gun and quickly moved ahead. With my back against the wall, I quickly turned around and shot without aiming. My instinct was rewarded by a yelp and a sharp pain spreading from my shoulder to my arm and chest. With my gun hand out of use, I decided to disarm my opponent the old fashioned way. Luckily the gun wound had distracted him enough, that he hadn't shot at me again. Being rusty from all these years of not being in service, my moves were slightly sloppy, but it seemed obvious my opponent was completely inexperienced. It didn't take long to disarm him and get him on the floor with his hands behind his back.

"Backway clear, come trough!" I yelled to the others, who quickly turned the corner. It offered a bit more shelter, but I could see that they had both been shot. I had to choose between jumping in to help, not being able to do much while Chrisitan held the fifth man down, or give my gun to Christian and let him do the shooting. "Ever fired a gun?" I asked him while handing him my pistol. He loaded it with expertise, answering my question then turned around and helped the guys. Ekaterina was watching me with sparkling eyes, the woman didn't even look afraid.

"I knew, I should expect great things from you, Miss Hathaway, I was told you were one of the good ones. I didn't think it would be this pronounced," was her simple statement. I could hear yelling, followed by more gunshots, and then it all got quiet. Eddie sank against the wall and grimaced in pain, while Dimitri held himself up with a high amount of stubbornness. A duo of guards came around the corner and took over with Ekatherina, wanting to escort her out right away, but she insisted that she wanted to stay with me, now that the danger was over anyway. One of them then offered to take the man who was struggling underneath me, and I let him, gratefull to rest my injured shoulder. Dimitri looked at me worried, but I was equally concerned about him. He had been directly in the line of fire.

"I'll be fine," I told him and touched his bullet-holed shirt. My fingers briefly brushed against the hard surface of a bulletproof vest before he snatched my wrist and tore it away. He shook his head at me and talked to the other guardian who then came up and asked me to follow him to the infirmary. I asked him to take care of Dimitri and Eddie first but when I turned around to point both of them were gone. Only Ekatherina and I were left in the hall with the royal guard and I reluctantly let them escort me to the infirmary. Ekaterina winked at me on the way out before she was taken to a secure place. I kinda liked the woman. She was very different from Tatiana, but the fact that she had designed the tests Tatiana had passed made me slightly more confident in the late queen's competence.

* * *

C pov

I was on fire! Figural speaking. I never knew quite the rush of the guardians' action-filled life until Rose handed me that gun. I never knew I was a good shoot either, but damn was I?

I think guardian Croft found my excitement to be quiet entertaining. He seemed to be in an oddly good mood as he called me into his office that afternoon.

"Alright Ozera, you did well. I can't actually give you some kind of reward, but if you fill out a blanket I'll get you permission to own a gun. See it as a favor," he told me after hanging up on the guardian who was administrating the cells.

"Thank you, sir. Who did you take into custody?" He shook his head at me.

"I am not gonna tell you that. You will have to wait for the trial. Thank you for your help, now go." He was being very dismissive, so I decided not to test my luck. Instead, I went to find Rose. I figured she was to find in the infirmary with the others, so that is where I went. She was in the middle of getting stitched when I got there.

"Guess you actually did get shot this time, huh?" She sent me a tired look.

"As the only one. Ironic isn't it?" She noted dryly. I chuckled and sat down in the visitor's chair.

"The others got hit too, but luckily only in the protected area. Eddie has got a few bruised ribs tho, and Dimitri is going to be blue and yellow in a few hours," I told her. Luckily both had chosen to wear bulletproof vests for work today. Rose hadn't, but it wouldn't have helped her anyway, the bullet hit her just below the shoulder, missing the bone by an inch. She would need time for the wound to heal, but other than that, she was fine.

"You had a theory you wanted to share?" she asked me pointedly. I glanced at the doctor just long enough to see if he was listening - he was.

"Yeah, I can tell you on the way home. How many stitches to go, doc?" He took another tread and prepared it

"Just two more, and she is ready to go. Can't sit still much longer, I imagine?" He joked with her. She laughed and used her good arm to make a flipping off gesture.

"Oh shut up Sam! I am not an ADHD-kid anymore!" I looked at the doctor surprised and noticed he was dhampir. How odd, I thought, and very rare. Rose didn't introduce us so I figured it wasn't someone she wanted me to meet. He patched her up and put a bandaid on it.

"There you go. Good as new. Now, don't go climbing any threes, or fight any strigoi for a few days, your arm needs a chance to heal!" He ordered.

She smiled wickedly, "I'll try not to, but you know, sometimes I don't even think about it, it is just pure habit!" She joked, and he laughed.

"I am not surprised. Take care Hathaway," he told her with a raised brow in warning. She jumped off the bed and looked at me expectantly.

"Well, don't just stand there - go on!" She ordered impatiently. I shook my head and held my arm out for her to lead the way.

"You knew that doctor?" I asked her on the way out.

She looked at me funnily.

"It is Sam from Vlad's! Don't tell me you don't remember Sam?" She asked me accusingly. My blank face must have told it all because she sighed apprehensively. "Geez, forgot you were a loner in high school. Sam was really cute, and in our year. He failed the last test to become guardian when his 'moroi' refused to move, and he chose to shove him out of the way and off the edge. He had pretty good grades in all the other classes tho, so he got a scholarship and went to med school. Awesome right? I wish I could have become a doctor, but my grades wouldn't even have gotten me into advanced math, not to mention university!" She exclaimed.

"Well, good thing politics made you rich then," I noted dryly. People would kill for her life. Some were trying to.

She sighed, "geez, Sparkey, don't be such a buzzkill. Let me dream for a moment. Anyway, your theory?" I looked around and saw we were alone in one of the gardens Hans had once made her plant.

"I think Lissa is schizophrenic," I bit out, and she leaned away from me skeptically.

"A little extreme? I thought we were all agreeing on the 'evil spirit user' theory?" She asked.

"I think she is the evil spirit user. Look some things happened while you away: She started acting weird, going out in the middle of the night, showing up in random places, not knowing how she got there. I wrote it off as stress and darkness, but what if it is something else?"

She looked thoughtful, then she shook her head.

"I don't think so. At least not completely, but you have a point. There are definitely two personalities in there, but everyone agrees on a third party. We just don't know who, but I think we got a bit closer. The man they arrested was definitely Ralf Sarcozy, I'll recognize that chubby bastard everywhere. If he was a part of it, then someone else at skt. Vlad might be too. How positive are you of Jill's element?"

"One hundred percent."

She shrugged. "Then someone else. I don't know what to tell you, but I see a pattern. Ralf, Lissa, Sonya, Tanner - what do they have, in common?" She asked me intensely.

"Skt. Vlad."

She nodded. "Something was always off about that place. It gave me the creeps, even tho I grew up there. Chris, I have to go back there. You need to handle Liss till I know what is going on. We need to stop this." She couldn't be serious.

"What?! No way, You are not bailing on me!" Someone came through the courtyard and looked at us weirdly. Rose responded by grabbing my arm and pulling me into the shadows.

"It is the only way. I can only do so much from where I am. Right now we are fighting an invisible enemy-" her eyes locked on something behind me. I didn't give it much thought, she wouldn't get to use the distraction to get out of this.

"I know, but you can't just leave us and go off again! For god's sake Rose, Lissa is going mental in the middle of an election, and we haven't even-" her eyes widened and she grabbed me again showing me through the door. "What the hell?" She hushed me and looked through the door. Outside I caught a glimpse of a blonde male walking past. I hadn't seen him before, but he reminded me of someone... "Who was that?" I asked once he had passed. She looked uncertain but shook her head.

"I am not sure, but he looked a lot like..." She trailed off. It took me a moment to place the blonde mane.

"Eric Dragomir," I finished, and she locked her frantic gaze on mine and nodded.

"Yeah, but that is impossible. Probably just someone who looked like him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have aged a day," she noted. I realized she was right. The man that just walked past was no older than forty, Eric Dragomir would be in his fifties by now.

"Maybe just wishful thinking. Having another Dragomir around would make things a lot easier," I noted.

"You have Jill, that must help, and now you are making a little Dragomir," she joked. Unintentionally, she struck a nerve, the pregnancy was still very new to me.

"Thanks for reminding me. I really wish she would have told me," I muttered.

Rose looked at me with a sickening pity. "I am sorry for dropping that bomb on you, but you deserved to know," she apologized.

I waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, I am not mad at you. It is a lot better to know now than later. Sometimes it just feels like I am only an accessory in the Lissa Dragomir show."

"I know how that feels," she muttered quietly. I had forgotten that once, Rose had simple been Lissa's shadow. Her quiet companion - okay, maybe not quite, but still. She knew better than anyone.

"I miss having you around Rose. It made it a bit easier when there was someone to share my torture," I joked.

She rewarded me with a smile. "I miss you too Sparky. Your facial expressions through a royal dinner made it well worth it!" She joked, but then her face fell a little. "I miss the old days in general. It feels so lonely these days. Adrian is there but is like, we don't even talk, and that was before I found out he was in on this conspiracy. You don't get to have a lot of friends when you are always on the go," she explained.

I snorted, "try being frozen here at court. Everyone is here, but no one speaks to each other, not really anyway. It is all about appearances - making a good impression. You don't know who to trust, because everyone wants a piece of your cake."

She looked at me with a weird expression, then suddenly she threw herself at me, lips first, and pushed me into the wall. I was surprised at first, but then I started enjoying the feeling of her lips on mine. they were soft and full, not like the thin ones I was used to. She also seemed to put a lot into it, and that kind of passion was new to me. I laced my fingers in her hair and pulled her to me, kissing her like there was no tomorrow, mentally cursing myself when I had to let go for air. She looked at me trough dazed eyes, then suddenly the world came crashing down, and we sprang apart.

"That cannot happen!" She exclaimed.

I nodded, "terrible idea! Let's not speak of it ever again!"

she agreed and whipped her lips with her sleeve."We should go, someone is probably looking for us," she said and left through the door hastily. I followed right after her but had to jog to keep up. How did she walk that fast in those heels anyway?

She was headed for the council hall when we passed Rufus Tarus house, and she froze. I almost ran into her, as something had captured my attention as well. There were paparazzi outside on the staircase, at the top, there were two men, smiling and shaking each other hands. They were very recognizable. One was Rufus Tarus, the other was Victor Dashkov.

"What the hell?!" Rose cursed out loud, voicing my own thoughts. How did that criminal get in? Why was he here? Why had no one arrested him? Most importantly: Was Victor on Rufus team?

* * *

R pov

"I demand an explanation!" I yelled. Rufus looked at me calmly from his chair.

"We just gave you one: He found a loophole," he said as if it was simple.

"That doesn't explain what he is doing HERE!?" I hissed. Victor folded his fingers and looked at me, seeming entertained.

"Why my dear Rosemarie, you let me in!" He explained. I glared at him, and Rufus gave me a curious look.

"I choose not to get into that," he commented, leaning back and lighting his cigar. "Victor found a loophole: You need to be a royal, from a family of more than two living figures, get three nominations, and then you are free to run. Free. That is what is says. So while he runs for King, he can walk around freely."

"He is a convicted felon!"

"Only because he got caught. We have all done things we shouldn't have, Rose," he told me sternly.

I glared at him. "You might, but I haven't. My slate is clean, I am allowed to be just a tad self-righteous here."

Victor coughed behind me, "allow me to disagree," he smirked at me.

I narrowed my eyes but didn't lower myself to his level. We weren't having this discussion right now. "What does your publicist say about this?" I demanded from Rufus, who laughed.

"He suggested it. It is a time for... alternative methods Rosemarie. The world isn't black and white anymore, everything is subjective. You say felon, I say alternative freedom fighter. Even Vasilisa suggested, she thought the cause might be worth it," he justified.

"Well, my PR consultant has been blowing up my phone since those pictures hit the internet, and I will let you know: He isn't happy."

"You mean your boy-toy, Ivashkov?" Vitor snickered.

"My fiancé, lord Adrian Ivashkov. You should have some respect for that title, seeing as you were stripped of your title as Prince, Mr. Dashkov!" I sneered. Christian came beside me and grabbed my bicep to pull me back.

"Rose, calm down," he whispered in my ear. I whipped around and stared at him - that betraying bastard!

"You're serious?!" He looked at Rufus and Victor.

"I am not a fan, but it could be worse. Two of our allies teaming up shouldn't be a concern. You have plenty others," he noted. He was right. This wasn't the biggest of my concerns, at least not right now.

"How do I explain this to Adrian?" I asked then, looking at them pointedly.

"The same way you explain everything else: You don't," was Rufus dry remark. I sent him a glare, tho I knew he was right. That was my solution to things.

"How did this even happen?" I asked, wanting to know what had given Victor sudden access to his old contacts. He raised a brow at me.

"Oh, you haven't heard? The scores just update: I am in the lead." Ah, shit...

* * *

Lissa was upset. Christian knew just by looking at her pace around. He, Michela and Adrian was with her, handling the entire Rufus and Victor getting all friendly situation. I wasn't present but had chosen to keep an eye on her as much as possible through the bond. Right now there was nothing unusual. She was driven but not psychotic.

"It isn't like he will win the vote," Christian tried to soothe her, but Michela was being her usual bitchy self. How she earned her way back into the inner circle, I had no idea.

"This is a serious issue! Prince Tarus has openly shown friendliness to her abuser, making it obvious whose side he is on!" She barked out in a high pitch tone.

Adrian flinched. "I don't think uncle Rufus is on anyone's side but his own. Victor has a lot of support, but he will never become king. Rufus knows this, so he plans to sweep in and grab the support Victor attracts. It is a smart move," he argued.

Lissa turned towards him, feeling tears build up. "But doesn't that exclude me? How do I get around this?" She cried.

"Relax. Nothing is settled yet. Be the voice of reason," he tried to advise.

Michela snorted, "like hell! Play the victim-card, he tortured you!"

Lissa bit her lip. She wasn't prepared for this. In a way it was genius: They had completely knocked her out with their stunt. Most of all she wanted me to be there, me and- Someone. She wasn't sure who she was missing, but she missed someone, perhaps her father to guide her. I felt a light shock, recalling earlier in the hall when I thought I saw Eric Dragomir - it couldn't be, could it? Eric had been dead for years, even with all the spirit in the world, there was no way to change that.

I was thrown into my own body by Dimitri shaking me slightly.

"We are here," he grunted out when he saw I was with him again. I looked around and saw that indeed we were. The wards a few meters behind us, we were outside where my powers worked. It was sunrise, the risk of getting attacked close to nonexistent. I looked around, took a deep breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them nothing had changed, and I was still surrounded by threes and Dimitri, who didn't exactly want to believe in these things. I sighed and concentrated, trying to only summon the spirit I wanted to talk to. For several moments nothing happened, and I almost gave up, thinking she had moved on, then suddenly colors started to fade into place, and a very seethrough Tatiana stood before me, a tiny bit washed out in features. Man, did she look pissed to be disturbed, or maybe pissed to be murdered - who wouldn't be?

"You are still here," I noted, but she didn't show any signs of hearing me. I shook my head frustrated. "Look, I pieced the things together: You weren't a complete bitch. Someone else was making you. Who?" She still didn't move, and I was about to give up, when she moved her head slightly, tilting it so she was sending me a curious look. I stomped my foot impatiently against the ground: She was making me look like an idiot. "Well?" I asked with a raised brow. Finally, she opened her mouth, but no sound came out. It didn't need to, because a name flashed across my mind: Frederich Dashkov. "Frederic? Who the fuck is that?" She didn't answer, she just smiled slyly and then disappeared. Figures, even in death she is a cryptic bitch. I turned to Dimitri, who looked like he was trying very hard not to judge me.

"So? What did she say?" He asked. I shook my head angrily.

"Nothing. Just like when she was alive. She gave me a name with no relation to it. Fucking cunt," I growled. He smiled like he found it funny how I called the late queen a cunt, but she was. A fucking annoying cunt. Something was starting to fall into place, though. It was the same families involved: Dragomir, Ozera, Ivashkov, Voda, and Dashkov. Ozera was a distraction, someone to take the fall. The Ivashkovs were just pawns in a larger game. Voda might be as well, I wasn't sure. Dragomir and Dashkov. Those were the true villains. I just had to figure out how.

Starting with the more obvious choice, I paid Victor Dashkov a visit. He wasn't hard to find: Since being allowed back into society, he had reclaimed his old mansion at the outskirts of court and decided to host a party, celebrating the upcoming election: Charming. The guest list was packed, but far from everyone showed up, restoring my faith in these people, if only a little. Victor himself was to find at the center, answering everyone's questions the best he could. And there were many, but when he spotted me, he excused himself and pulled me out on the balcony. "Rosemarie," it was a greeting and a question: What was I doing there?

"Who is Frederich Dashkov?" I asked, getting right to it. He blinked three times before answering.

"No one. There isn't a Dashkov of the name Frederich," was his short answer.

"That was what I thought, but someone says there is. You blinked, so you know something, spill it!" I demanded calmly.

He sent me a bitter glare and threw a longing look at the party going on inside. Reluctantly, he answered, "there is no Dashkov by the name of Frederich. That is the truth. However, I do know who might call himself so, and it isn't a pretty story," was his warning.

I just looked at him blankly. "Nothing is," I told him and kept my voice flat.

"I will need a favor in return for this secret," he tried to bargain.

"How about I don't use my influence to ban you from the social scene, and we call it even?" I snarked, but he didn't buy it.

"Tell me how you got the name, and I will tell you who it is," he proposed.

I looked past him at the party inside to see if anyone was listening in, then nodded. "Tatiana told me. Her ghost. Now, who is he?" I demanded.

Victor didn't seem surprised by the ghost part. If anything he was annoyed that he hadn't figured it out himself. He wasn't happy about it, but he stuck to his end of the deal. "Frederich Dahskov is a cover for Finick Duro."

I blinked. Duro. "As in Robert Duro?"

He nodded, "my nephew. My brother was quite the casanova before he lost his mind - if you can believe it. Finick is the child of him and Henriette Alma Samuelson." Another child of Robert Duro. How freaking fantastic. What was it with that family and illegitimate children? Were all royals like that? All the more reason not to marry Adrian.

"And that is supposed to ring a bell?" I asked. I had no idea, who the chick was.

Victor smiled, "Henriette is the daughter of Tobias Samuelson, brother of Alma Samuelson, who married Frederich Dragomir and took his name." Ahh damn!

"Finick is Lissa's cousin, that is why he calls himself Frederich, to stay related to the Dragomir line. His father was supposed to be royal, a Dashkov, that is the last part. Finick felt cheated of royalty on both sides, so he created a name that he felt did him justice."

Victor nodded, "I have to admit, I forgot about him. Do you think he is our guy?" I thought about it. The money from André Dragomirs account, the man I saw earlier who looked like Eric, all the little clues, not to mention the combination of two lines containing known spirit users. Yep, we hit jackpot.

"I am almost certain. Does Robert know?" I expected Victor to deny right away and defend his brother, but surprisingly, he hesitated.

"My brother is very fragile," he concluded.

"Fragile people can do horrible things too. Do you think he knows of his son's little games?" I asked.

"Maybe, maybe not. Robert is currently tucked away with a feeder in Texas where he will stay. I don't think you need to worry about him."

"Where does Calvin fit into all of this?" I demanded. Calvin and I hadn't had the most contact lately, but he had helped me through a difficult time. I didn't want to have to consider him an enemy.

"I don't know, but I will call him. Calvin and Finick are half brothers, and they probably don't know about each other. Don't worry about Calvin, I'll handle that part," he promised. I didn't know what to think, but I had to believe that if Rufus trusted Victor, so could I.

"The last test is in four days," I informed him.

He nodded, well aware. "I know."

"What do you think will happen?" I asked him, not knowing where to stand anymore.

"I don't know, but I don't think any of us will miss it."

 **Two chapters left! Next up: Will Rose finally uncover the truth of Frederich and his influence on Lissa? What will happen to the Dragomir princess? An engagement party ends in a broken engagement, and the election gets oddly more entertaining than expected. Who do you think ends up with the crown?**


	19. The bastard is dead

R pov

I found it to be somewhat ironic that I was the guest of honor tonight, and yet, I was probably the one person, who knew the least about the arrangements for tonight. Daniella had set Adrian and I up with a beautiful engagement party the night before the final election. It was supposed to be good timing: Everyone was here, and no one had anything else to do the night before the big reveal. She had managed to get us the main hall at the sculpture museum - don't ask me how. It was certainly beautiful: The entire room was lit up by big chandeliers, and everything was shining with extravagance. From the packed buffets to the ancient statues, this party was Instagram worthy. She had even chosen a dress for me to wear - I hated it. It wasn't that she had bad fashion-taste: Daniella had chosen a beautiful violet gown with glittering pearls and a trail. The only thing wrong with it was that I couldn't walk in it, at all. It was sewn to fit a moroi woman: A few inches taller than me and a few inches slimmer at the bust. I couldn't breathe, it was so tight something would most certainly break if I inhaled deeply, and I couldn't walk either, the fabric kept getting caught in my heels, and due to the tightness, I was afraid any quick movements would rip it. The five-inch stilettos helped slightly on the length, however, made it even more impossible to move. Hench to why I was required to be on someone's arm for the entire evening. I don't know if she did it on purpose so I would have no choice but to cling to Adrian, or if it was an honest mistake, but I wasn't about to let her win. Instead, I held onto my father's strong arm for most of the night, asking him to help me go mingle. Adrian was busy bragging about his new life with me on his arm, he didn't seem to notice that I wasn't actually on his arm.

"You don't look happy, kizim," my father muttered, as he leed me around the room. I took some of the fabric from the dresses trail and held it up to make my fair easier.

"I don't have time to be happy, old man, I am busy surviving," I hissed.

He hummed in a wondering tone. "I don't think you should marry Ivashkov," he told me sincerely.

I looked at him shocked. My father had always like Adrian. At one point, he had even tried to push us together.

He barely looked at me, as he kept walking, but spoke to me calmly. "He doesn't treat you well. He used to, but now he doesn't. I'll admit, I thought, at one point, it was a good match, but what I have seen lately made me change my mind. Just now, he barely notices you - he is busy talking about himself. I want the best for you, kizim: Letting you marry someone who doesn't make you happy, isn't what is best for you."

It was at times like this that I loved my father. Although it hadn't been a top priority, I did fear what he would think if I broke the engagement. Now, I had his blessing. "Thank you, old man," I smirked to him, grabbing his arm tighter. He tucked me into him, as we approached Camille and Marie Conta, who had shown up together tonight.

"Rose, there you are! Don't you look gorgeous?!" Camille coed and I gave her a small smile. I didn't like her in high school, but she had turned out to be a decent person in adulthood.

"Thank you, Camille. You look lovely as well. Lady Conta," I greeted Marie, who was looking at our exchange patiently.

"Miss Hathaway, Mr. Mazur, good to see you again," she greeted politely. Marie wasn't entirely terrible, she just had zero charisma. That was okay tho, if she won, it wouldn't be a catastrophe.

"You as well Marie, congratulations on passing the second test," my father winked at her. I had forgotten about his womanizing ways and felt a bit nauseous seeing it unfold.

"Thank you, Ibrahim, but considering the field, I am not sure if it is something to be happy about," she commented dryly.

"Well, I am," I declared and touched her arm lightly. "At least someone decent still has a chance. I heard Arianna didn't pass," I noted. Arianna had been one of my favorites - it was a shame she didn't make it.

"No, unfortunately. Ronald Ozera didn't make it through the first test either. We are only four left," she noted. It was true. Only Vasilisa Dragomir, Rufus Tarus, Victor Dashkov and Marie Conta was left. Not very comforting. "Congratulations on your engagement, tho. You are certainly marrying into a powerful family," she added. Powerfull. That was all everyone seemed to think about these days.

I decided to laugh it off: "If that was my focus, I might want to marry a Dashkov instead: It seems that is the way the wind is blowing."

Marie's lips sealed together tightly. "I can't believe they let that man back in," she sneered.

"Neither can I, but he is here. For what is it worth Lady Conta, I think you might be the best candidate."

"Really?" Camille bit in nonchalantly. "I heard you visited Victor Dashkov yesterday: To congratulate him?"

I blinked surprised. Of course, my visit hadn't gone unnoticed! "More like threaten him. Victor and I haven't been on good terms since he planned to have me killed, back in high school," I explained, making it sound like that was a normal statement. They seemed to buy that. It wasn't a complete lie either, it was just that fate kept pushing us together.

"Rose! There you are, my beautiful!" Jesse Zeklos cut in from the side. He smirked at the two Contas. "Camille, still looking good, I see," he noted to Camille, who gave him a controlled smile.

"And yet, you chose to marry a commoner. Pity," she commented, then turned her back on us, leaving with her aunt.

Jesse shook it off easily by turning his attention back to me and my father. "Mr. Mazur, good to see you. Would you mind if I borrowed Rose for a minute?" he asked, and my father shrugged.

"Go ahead, but I warn you: She bites," he joked but left us nonetheless.

Jesse shook his head with a polite laugh and took my arm.

"You can't marry Adrian," he whispered through a forced smile.

I sighed, "you keep saying that, but you won't tell me why!"

He looked around to see if anyone was listening, then leaned down to me and revealed: "I will now: Adrian has been meeting with Lissa, Tatiana and someone who calls himself Frederich Dashkov while you were away on business. He flew in here several times a week to these meetings. Mia told me a bit of everything: He has had you under compulsion for quite a while to keep you passive. Maybe he still thinks he has. I think they were planning on using you to keep the dhampirs down, at least until it was too late to stop the evolvement, then get rid of you. Adrian probably wanted to keep you for himself - that is why he went through the trouble of compelling you."

I had thought a lot about Adrian these days, and some of this was thoughts I had had, but thinking it and hearing it from someone else was completely different things. "Thank you for your honesty," I told him. He smiled at me tightly. It was one of those smiles that held great pity, and I hated getting it, especially from Jesse Zeklos. He escorted me to the other side of the room, where Christian was standing alone, looking bored. "Hey Sparkey," I greeted him from a distance, and he lightened up when he saw us approach.

"Rose, you look stunning. Enjoying your party?" He asked with a smirk, knowing damn well I wasn't enjoying any of this.

"I can't walk, breath, or eat," I huffed. "Can't wait for it to be over!"

Both men chuckled, then Christian offered me his arm, taking me from Jesse. "Would you mind checking in on my fiancé? I haven't seen her since we arrived, and she doesn't seem to enjoy my company this evening," he asked Jesse, very politely. I didn't know Christan was capable of being that nice to someone. Jesse nodded dutifully and went to find Lissa, giving us some privacy to talk. "Are you okay?" Christian asked once we were alone.

"Yeah, I am just tired. I wasn't kidding about not being able to breathe," I explained. I placed my hand on my stomach silently hoping it would help the air pass easier trough my lungs. Christian smirked at me again, while he reached for another glass from a waiter passing by.

"It will be over soon. How is Adrian?" He asked quietly, looking around on all of our guests.

"Unsuspecting," was my only reply. It was true, Adrian hadn't noticed a thing. I was beginning to worry my future not-husband wasn't very bright.

"Lissa yelled at me this morning for not being more considerate of 'her' baby. I think I might have liked it better when I didn't know about it," he confessed. I glanced towards the place where I last saw her, but she was gone.

"Well, she is under a lot of pressure. Maybe you should try giving her a massage?" I suggested - as if it would solve anything.

Rightfully, he looked at me skeptically. "She gets one every day at the spa from an attractive masseuse: I don't think tension is her problem." 'Maybe not, but it might be yours,' I mentally added. Someone was certainly bitter.

I shrugged again and looked around: No one was listening in, but we had drawn a bit of attention just by being alone together. "I need to speak to you about something, but it has to be private. Could you come and meet me at Hans' office after this?"

He agreed quickly, "I need to speak to you as well, about something private," he said cryptically. I took another sip of my glass, hoping to ease the pain in my feet.

To my left, Rufus was approaching us fast. To my right, Marie Conta was approaching with equal speed.

"Rose!" They both exclaimed at the same time, then looked at each other startled. Rufus was the first to recover. He cleared his throat and took my hand affectionately. I had a hunch he only did so to annoy Marie.

"Rose, I have to go. Big day tomorrow. It was good to see you tonight, tho: You look breathtaking. I can't imagine a more beautiful bride, for anyone," he told me, and I sensed a double meaning.

"Thank you, Rufus, and thank you for your time. Good luck tomorrow," I bid politely, trying not to insult Marie by being too friendly with Rufus.

Rufus laughed and winked. "Luck won't have anything to do with it. Enjoy your night, Rose. Work begins again tomorrow," he reminded me. When the monarch was chosen the council unlocked. Meaning I had influence again, but also my position was threatened. Not that much, tho: Marie and Rufus both liked me, they wouldn't throw me off the council, but the other two contestants equaled disaster, so, you know.

"I will be leaving as well, Miss Hathaway, but congratulations yet again," Marie bid me farewell.

I gave her a full smile. "Thank you, but do call me Rose, and good luck to you as well. No matter what Rufus says, luck is always a factor. I do recommend a lucky charm," I joked, and it earned me a hint of a smile from the usually uptight princess Conta.

"I'll try to remember so. Enjoy your party, Rose," she out a little pressure on my name, making me smile. I did like her as a candidate.

When she and Rufus had left, I saw a few others were excusing themselves as well. It gave me hope that my torture was about to come to an end. Scouting for Lissa yet again, I even tried to reach out through the bond, but she was blocking me tonight. It made me a little suspicious and seeing as our guests were starting to leave, I felt like I could investigate. I elbowed Christian and nodded towards the waiters' exit. He got the message and helped me sneak out in my high heels.

"What is it?" He asked concerned.

"Lissa is blocking me, but I still have a radar for her. Let's find out what she is up to," I told him and grabbed the fabric of my dress so I could move easier. He still had his arm around mine to help me walk, but we moved faster now. I kept a feeling after for Lissa and eventually got a hit: In Tatiana's old chambers. How fitting. I stopped and signaled for Christian to be quiet. Knowing where to be, I placed us accordingly, so we had the chance to listen in. We had to go into the bathroom, but from there, there was an opening for ventilation that made it possible to get a look. And man was it not what I expected: Lissa was practically naked, sitting in the lap of a man, a man I recognized: Frederich Dashkov. I felt Christian tense beside me, but he didn't do anything.

"I am so glad we are doing this," he murmured, and she hummed in satisfaction. I tried to get in her head, but there was a heavy block. He ran his hands over her thighs, down to her knees in slow, gentle motions. "We are making another Dragomir: A worthy heir," he told her more intensely. She didn't answer, but I got the idea that he didn't know about her pregnancy. He thought that he was about to impregnate his cousin. Man, this was disgusting. But why hadn't she told him that she was already pregnant? An idea popped up: Was she even aware that she was doing this? I tried to force myself past the block with everything I had, and I got a small piece of her reality.

"A family," she whispered and kissed his neck. She wanted a family - her family: The Dragomir family. This man: He looked like her father - no, he was her father, and she loved him. Her mind was all fuzzy, but she knew, she would do anything, he asked. She loved him; that was what she thought, but I knew different: This wasn't love - this was twisted.

He nodded and started touching her over her bra, and her mind snapped, so I was pushed out again, but this time I caught myself before passing out. It wasn't Lissa that had pushed me out, it was something else: Someone else. And now it made sense. I wasn't supposed to see this, and he wanted to make sure I wouldn't. I jumped down from the sink and almost fell into Christian who grabbed me tightly.

"Is she really?" he whispered, and I shook my head.

"No, we need to stop them," I whispered back. Without thinking, I stormed out of the bathroom and started calling her name, like I was searching for her.

"Lissa?! Lissa, where are you? Liss, I know you are here, I need you!" I called and to my surprise - a door opened. Lissa was there, but she was wearing a weird expression like she just woke up from a slumber.

"Rose? Rose, what is wrong?" She asked, seeming panicked on my behalf.

"I need to talk to you. It is important," I confessed and tried to get a look past her into the room, but Frederich was already gone.

"What is it?" she asked concerned.

I took a deep breath and confessed the only thing that might bring her back to me:

"Christian and I kissed. I am so sorry, but I felt like you had a right to know," I apologized, awaiting her anger. To my surprise, she didn't seem mad at all.

"Kissed? Like how, why?" She asked, not believing me at all.

"A few days ago; after the second test. We were arguing, and then I kissed him. I don't know why I did it. It was very brief, but I feel horrible," I could sense Christian coming up behind me, but I didn't look at him. I knew telling her about the kiss without his permission was wrong, but I needed an excuse as to why this was so urgent.

Lissa just stared at me a few minutes, then she shrugged. "Okay."

I stared back in disbelief. "Okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, like, you said: It was brief, right? Nothing happened?"

I quickly shook my head, "no, no of course not! We both felt disgusted afterward."

She looked at both of us and shook her head a little. "Then okay. It is fine. Honestly, I sort of thought you had an affair at one point, so if a kiss is all there was, then I am fine," she answered honestly.

"What? Why would you think that?" Chrisitan exclaimed behind us.

She shrugged again. "You slept in the same room during field experience, had that entire Spokane thing together, trained together, and you have always seemed to have a special understanding. Honestly, I think I like you both because you are so much alike. So, if you are telling me, you have only recently kissed, and nothing else, then I am relieved, to be honest," she explained.

I was shocked but also felt relief. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah, also I kissed Adrian. Twice. Totally on accident. So, we are cool."

I felt my eyebrows raise but couldn't find it in me to ask: What did I care anyway? "Well, that is good to get out in the open. Did you fuck Dimitri too, or was that beneath you?"

She drew back and looked at me offended. "No, of course not! Like I said it was on accident, and you just admitted, you kissed Chrisitan, deliberately, so don't even go there!" She threw back at me.

"And then I told you! What kind of accident is it to kiss someone twice?!" I exclaimed a little too loud. We didn't have any company yet, but we might get it soon if we kept arguing.

"One time it was dark, and the other I was drunk. Stop being so morally superior all the time, it is getting god damn tiring!" She sneered at me.

"Who was that man?" Chrisitan asked suddenly, throwing away the entire point of the false argument.

Her eyes widened, and she looked startled, "what man?" I felt the sincerity. She had no idea.

"The man who was with you in that room: The one you were kissing. Who is he?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" There was a burst of nervous laughter at the end that didn't fit with her emotions. She wasn't nervous, she was confused and angry.

"Don't lie to me!" Chrisitan roared. "I heard you! Rose saw you! Is he the father of your child?! Were you planning on fooling me into caring for a child that isn't even mine?" He exclaimed. I looked back towards the way we came, but it was too late. People were already coming to see what was happening.

"Chrisitan, I don't know what man you are talking about!" She cried, then begged, "please don't make a scene!"

"Oh yeah, because appearance is all that matters to you, isn't it?! That is all I have ever been: A god damn accessory! Well, guess what? I am done!" He yelled at her, causing quite a bit of gasp. I didn't know what to do. Caught between the fighting lovers, I felt hopelessly out of place. I could see Victor running down the hall with a concerned expression and hoped he would be able to help.

"What? You can't just call off the wedding!" She exclaimed and he laughed in her face.

"I can and I will! We haven't been anything but a bad fraud lately! Kissing Rose was the most alive I felt in years!" He practically yelled, and I flinched. Did he have to mention me in the middle of this? Victor finally reached us and to my surprise, he grabbed me and pulled me out of the way.

"What are they doing?" He hissed to me to which I had to shrug.

"Caught her cheating, I think, then things escalated."

Sweat was dripping from the hair that had fallen in his face. It was hot in here already, and the running had caused him to sweat heavily. "Well, they have to stop!" He hissed back. I agreed, but I didn't know how to stop this. I wasn't even sure how I had become part of it.

"-I have never asked you for anything! Not even to propose after a DECADE together! Is it too much to ask that you are even a little invested in our future?!" Lissa yelled. This was becoming ridiculous, but I had a feeling that jumping in the middle of it would only make things worse.

"You asked for everything from me! I had to give up my entire being just to be in your life, with your drama and your friends. You keep going like I don't have dreams of my own. I wanted to see the world! Go somewhere where people don't whisper behind my back about my past. Somewhere where I could finally be free, but I lived this hell because it made YOU happy!" Christian yelled back, and people were starting to gather around us. Victor seemed to get the memo that I wasn't about to jump in, so, he did so himself.

"Maybe you should go somewhere else to discuss this?" He tried and maneuvered between them, but at no avail.

"You think you can do that with her?" Lissa sneered and pointed at me furiously. "She is a councilmember, at least as long as we let her: It will be more of the same - just with a cheaper version!" Ugh, that was a low blow. I felt the urge to suddenly slap her.

"Well, if cheaper means someone with actual passion, who acts like they LIKE to be touched, then I am more than happy to switch!" Shiiiiiiit, this was getting out of control. Suddenly someone grabbed my arm, hard. I looked up to see Adrian's furious face glaring at the scene.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" he hissed, and I resisted the urge to flinch.

"I don't know - couples' fight," I tried to excuse it, but he had heard enough already.

"Lissa!" He yelled, finally getting her attention. "Go home! Take your boyfriend and finish this somewhere else. I will deal with this-" He shook me as if to demonstrate. I tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but he dug his fingers into my arm. Where was Dimitri when I needed him? The couple finally broke apart, though none of them looked happy, and Victor grabbed them both by the shoulder to steer them out. Adrain still had a firm grip on me, but he turned to smile at the other guests. "Someone had a little too much. I am sure it will sort itself out in the morning. That was all this was: Drunken slander. Nothing that holds any true value," he announced. It was laced with compulsion, as much as he could muster at this point, and it worked: Everyone nodded and walked away, talking about how drunk the Dragomir princess had looked. I tried to get out of his grasp yet again but still, it was no use, and this time he turned his full attention on me. With renewed fury, he backed me into the wall and stared me down. "We are going to talk about this at home. Follow me, don't make a scene and act normal," he ordered. I glared at him but then my entire body relaxed. Of course, I would follow him home, why wouldn't I? Without any resistance, I followed him back to the now almost deserted party and walked the round to thank everyone for coming, and Daniella for hosting. I showed off the ring and talked about the future. That was what I wanted right? Kids and a white picket fence.

We were about to leave when Jesse came running after us in the hall.

"Rose! Weren't you gonna stay at my place? We have to get up early for the election," he asked intensely. Obviously, there was a hidden double meaning that I was missing.

Adrian cleared his throat, "if you would excuse us, Mr. Zeklos, my fiancé and I would like to spend the night together," he declared. I nodded. Of course, we did, we were engaged! Come to think about it, it had been forever since we slept together. Jesse looked lost as Adrian pulled away with me yet again. We had just stepped out on the stairs when we were approached again. No not approached - followed. Dimitri had been guarding the part and was to follow me home, as my guardian. When Adrian pulled me towards the Ivashkov residence, Dimitri objected.

"Excuse me lord Ivashkov. I do believe miss Hathaway is staying at lord Zeklos apartment," he informed politely. His words were directed at Adrian, but his eyes were on me.

"Well, we will be staying at my parents' house - not much point in letting my fiancé sleep in another man's apartment," Adrian answered tightly.

"I must object. The Ivashkov residence isn't approved by security. She could be in potential danger there."

Adrian pulled me to him tighter by my wrist which was laced under his arm. "Then we will be staying at the Mazur house. Would that be okay?" He asked pointedly, and Dimitri nodded slowly.

"Yes, of course, I will escort you there," he offered, making Adrian scowl.

"We are perfectly capable of walking alone, thank you, guardian Belikov," dismissal was clear in his voice, but Dimitri wasn't backing down.

"I am afraid I must insist. I am appointed to miss Hathaway by the royal court. The only one that can dismiss me is guardian Croft himself, and with election tomorrow, I find that unlikely." There was nothing in his voice that betrayed him, but I knew this was his way of saying 'fuck you, Adrian.'

Adrian pulled me to him even tighter so I was flush up against him. "Well, then there is nothing we can do. Please guardian Belikov, I hope you don't mind but this was our engagement party after all." The implication wasn't to be overheard. Dimitri looked at me as if to search my face for any sign of discomfort or fear, but I couldn't do anything but smile as if everything was perfect. Without further bickering, Adrian pulled me off towards my father's house. I don't know what he was planning to do when we got there, and I never found out, as we were ambushed on the way there. Five figures flanked us in the streets that weren't yet lit by the sunrise.

"Adrian Ivashkov," a voice called. I recognized it, but I couldn't quite place it. "time is up." The man stepped forward and revealed his face. Finick Duro. What an expected surprise.

Beside me, Adrian tensed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders protectively. "I got it under control," he barked, but there was a slight quiver in his voice. Was he afraid?

"Clearly, you don't. She has been making trouble for us all along, cousin. It is time to take her out," Finick insisted, while he and his men circled in on us. I wasn't afraid. I had Dimitri behind me, and I was still fully capable of throwing a punch myself, even with one arm still healing. My biggest problem right now was that Adrian had compelled me to act normal, so I was.

Speaking of Adrian: He chose to be surprisingly heroic and pushed me behind him to stand in the way between Finick and I. "You can't have her. I stopped the drama. I got everyone out. I have been doing your bidding for months, controlling her just to please you and my fanatic family! You said, that if I kept her in line, you wouldn't touch her. I have: She hasn't spoiled anything, and she won't. Vasilisa is going to win tomorrow - you can have your queen, but don't touch mine!" He warned. He wasn't even bothering with using spirit on this one, it probably wouldn't bite anyway. Yet, something in me snapped at his words: Had Adrian been protecting me all along? The compulsion broke, and I was suddenly able to act on my own. I reached out to Adrian and pulled him to me.

"Darling, please, it is okay. I can take it from here," I told him, while he looked at me with a heartbroken expression. Poor thing was in over his head. I turned my attention to Finick. "Hello, Mr. Duro."

Finck bared his teeth at me angrily. "It is lord Dragomir to you, dhampir!" He hissed at me.

I finally got a look at how unstable he was. "No, it is not. You have as little claim to the Dragomir name, as I. You just want it for the prestige, because it is better than Dashkov, another name you don't have a claim to."

"That isn't true! My father was a Dahskov, and my mother a Dragomir! I deserve to be recognized!" He yelled angrily.

I shook my head slowly. "No. Your father was an illegitimate child of the late prince Dashkov. He might have had a claim to it, but he never did, and so the claim is lost. Your mother is from a line that married into the Dragomir family, but you have none of their blood in your veins. All you are is a common moroi." Maybe it wasn't the best tactic, but I hoped to drive him into a mental break down.

He smirked at me suddenly. "And that is coming from you, a dhampir, a nobody. The only reason you matter to anyone is that prince Tarus wants to shack you enough that he pulled you into politics."

"I earned my range. I will admit that I have been helped by friends in high places, but I have earned my seat on the council. You haven't done anything but try to destroy the very same society that created you," I argued.

"This society is sick! Even my uncle can see it. My halfbrother, I believe you have met him, he gets to own up to his parentage and make a name for himself, but I get shunned on the base of my race. What kind of justice is that?!" He exclaimed. I glanced around us: These guys were most definitely all moroi, we could quickly take them.

"I am sorry for any kind of injustice you have suffered, but you can't take it out on an entire society that didn't even know you existed!" Was not the right thing to say.

Finick bared his teeth at me again and made the order. "Guys, take them. If you can't subdue her, kill her," he barked. The four men jumped us, but Dimitri and I were quicker. These men were trained, but not like we were. It dragged the fight out a little, but we were winning.

"Stop!" Someone yelled. I looked back and saw Finick holding a gun to Adrian's temple. "Hand yourself over, or I will blow his brain out!" He yelled. I made eye contact with Adrian who tried to mimic something to me. I didn't quite get the memo, cause I decided to test my luck instead.

"You even know how to use that? Aim at me; show me how you do it," I mocked. Finnick's face turned redder than a tomato, but it distracted him long enough for Adrian to place a foot in his midsection and kick him down. I quickly finished off the two men I was fighting and then headed towards Adrian and Finnick, but I was too late. Adrian had pulled a gun from his jacket, one I didn't know he owned, and shot Finick in the face. Blood splattered out on the ground from the bullet exit, and Finnick fell limply to the ground. To say I was shocked was an understatement. What the fuck just happened?!

Adrian whipped a little blood from his cheek and turned to me, surprisingly calm. "I think, maybe guardian Belikov was right: It would be better if you stayed at Zeklos' place."

 **Okay, so that even surprised me a bit, but I felt it was the right way to go with it. Please review and comment on what you think of this chapter. There are two chapters left, and there won't be another sequel, just a fair heads up. Once this gets the ending it deserves, I will, probably, see to it that let go of the Devil gets another re-edit and then gets done. I like the plot, but I was younger then and unexperienced. Moving forward on this story, I have a storyline written out and a final ship - no spoiler. Which pairing have you guys liked the most so far?**


	20. Long live the queen

**Okay, so I do know that this was forever in the making, but I had a lot of things to wrap up. Anyway, here it is and please remember to review!**

Rose's point of view:

I must have dozed off, for when I came through, a court employed attendant was calling my name repeatedly. "Councilmember Hathaway? Councilmember Hathaway, do you hear me? Miss Hathaway?!" She kept asking until I finally turned around to face her.

"I am sorry. What?" I asked, having not heard a single word of what she had been saying.

She sighed deeply, seeming both annoyed and flustered as she straightened her clothes. "Do you want to press charges?" She asked, and looked at the guardian who was doing the report. He was someone I had seen before but couldn't remember the name of. I shook my head at her question: What was the point in that? The woman was dead!

Michela Badica's body was hanging lifelessly from the bell tower. She looked like a ragdoll, or a Halloween decoration no one had bothered to take down. Her eyes had been clawed out, her neck broken before the fall, and her ribcage ripped open, the heart missing. Someone had bound her ankle to the end of the bell before throwing her body out from the tower, and now the bell rang every time her body swayed in the mild breeze. It was horrific, so naturally, all of court's citizens had come to watch. Ancient Rome was so long ago and yet people still enjoyed watching human suffering. Looking at her tattered body one question remained: Was this my fault? It seemed these days that all death leed back to me, somehow.

Damian took his umbrella out and unfolded it to protect us from the light rain, which had begun to fall from the grey sky. I hadn't even noticed him until now. "We should go, Miss Hathaway. Being here won't support our case," he told me in advice.

I frowned at him, as I registered his words and the meaning behind them. "What case?" Surely there was no case? She was dead!

"The case the Ivashkov family will be leading for you. I know that your commitment to the family is over, but it was your reputation, and in collaboration of that, Adrian's and the Ivashkov family's, that Mrs. Badica tried to slander. Therefore, I will be handling the case," he offered comfortingly. I suppose he didn't know what else he could do for me at the moment. As I said, I had always liked Damian. He had always been frank and honest, and I appreciated that in a family where it seemed no one was being candid.

"I just said no to pressing charges?" It was a question, and frankly, I had expected him to leave after that. Perhaps it had been stupid of me, but I didn't see the point.

Damian shook his head. "To press charges for attempted murder and torture, and while that can still be changed, the other case is still open. Please just let me do my job, Rose," he practically begged me, and I shrugged. If he wanted to go through the year-long trials against a dead woman, then sure. Who was I to ruin his fun?

What had lead to this seemingly absurd scene? I am glad you ask. Let us go back to where we left off:

After seeing Adrian shoot Finnick up close - I know, what the actual fuck? - Dimitri had decided it might be best if I stayed off the radar. Instead of taking me back to Jesse's place, he had sneaked us into Christians townhouse. It was supposed to be abandoned and, according to Dimitri, the best place to hide was somewhere no one expected. Now here is where it starts to get freaky, because first of, I actually got a full six hours of sleep - which is currently unheard of - but, Christian also came by to make breakfeast. I was beginning to consider falling in love with that guy, if nothing else, then solely for the bacon he cooked. He told us, that Lissa and he had argued all the way home last night, and then she had locked him out, which was why he had slept in Jesse's apartment while waiting for us to return. He was up this early because Mia had returned last night - literally in the middle of the night, and she and Jesse had been fucking each other's brains out ever since - at least she seemed to be doing better.

Although both men wanted me to, I could hardly stay away from today's election, but when we arrived at the venue, everything was upside down. Apparently - last night - after dragging Lissa and Christian away from the public eye, Victor Dashkov had broken protocol - surprise - and challenged the other three contestants to a good old fashioned fight to the death. Apparently, that used to be common practice back in the old days - who knew? I mean, that might have made this entire thing much more interesting from the beginning. Rufus, being the asshat he was, had accepted, so now it was stated in the law that the other two had to accept as well, or withdraw. I wanted to bet everything I owned those two had been calculating on that when they had their little friendly get-together. Marie Conta - the lovely lady - straight up refused, called it a barbaric tradition - which it was - and threatened to have the entire election disqualified for being fixed. Vasilisa Dragomir had accepted.

Now naturally, Christian was pissed. She was pregnant and in no condition to fight to the death with two earth users. That was his opinion. My odds were on Lissa, to be honest, but I wasn't about to voice that opinion. I didn't want her to participate any more than he did, but for other reasons.

"You have to stop this!" Christian insisted and put his fist down on the table in front of Hans. I had to give it to him: Hans had some balls. No debating, no compromising, clean and simple, he answered: "No," and he stuck to it. Even when it caused the entire room to jump on him, he still stood his ground. So, despite Christian's - and the Contas' - best efforts to shut the fight down, Hans insisted, and the law dictated, that we had to let it happened. I don't know who designed these laws, but seriously were they a bunch of crap? My best shot was trying to talk some sense into Rufus, so that was where I went after realizing the drama in Hans' office wasn't leading anywhere.

I put on my best no-nonsense attitude and strolled into his townhouse, but was stopped halfway up the stairs by Guardian Leland, who had been instructed to keep me away.

"But I have to see him!" I exclaimed and tried to push past him yet again.

Leland grimaced and grabbed both my shoulders in a sideways motion to show me back. "No, you don't. He ran for the crown, and he is going through with it. Besides, even if he did want to see you, he isn't here."

I huffed, not feeling well about the 'if he wanted to see you' part, "well, where is he then?" Demostravivly I crossed my arms and pouted.

Leland sighed and glared at me with equal intensity. "Don't know, won't tell ya. They picked him up this morning. If he wins, he will be back tonight," was his very impolite answer.

"Well aren't you a pretty excuse for a guardian? Not only is your charge in danger that you are knowing off but you also don't know where he is!" I spat at him feeling the old hatred for him come back.

He didn't change his expression but looked slightly tired. "Go home, Rose. Wait this out like everyone else. And don't ever question my abilities again!" He growled at the end.

I smirked hauntingly, for the first time feeling truly superior. "Don't give me a reason to then! Who are you to give me orders anyway?!"

Something flickered in his eyes but he kept the mask on. "Well after today we might be colleagues. Think about that sweetie."

I huffed and turned on my heel. If by any chance I wasn't demoted after this election, he was so getting fired!

Seeing as that plan went out the door, I had to adjust my approach: Victor was the one to initiate this little stunt, so talking to him was out of the question - he was probably moved to a secret location as well. Left was Lissa, but I had no way of contacting her. To make matters worse, I couldn't read her trough the bond. It wasn't that she was blocking me: Everything was open. Wide-open. It was just that every time I reached for the connection, I felt like I was getting burned from the chaos on the other side. Not a nice feeling, which made me seriously worry about Lissa. This was what lead us to the point at which I knew I had to something, or this was going straight to hell. Of course, the law dictated the fight had to be strictly between the contestants, but I had a feeling that wouldn't be honored by anyone! With a little help from Jesse and Dimitri, I got a location out of the guardian headquarters. Credit goes mostly to Jesse for hacking the receptions computer and downloading it all through there, although Dimitri deserves credit for distracting the receptionist with charm I didn't know he owned. Seeing my usually uptight Russian turning up the heat was comedy on another level. I had trouble keeping my cool as I spied from my spot in a waiting room chair behind a plant from where I had a great view of both men without being seen.

"So, have you been around here for long? I have never seen you before," he purred and leaned over the desk to get her attention.

"Actually, I have been here for five years now, guardian Belikov. I greet you every week when you do report," she answered. She was charmed by the attention, but she was also reasonably cautious.

"Well, you must have done something new then, what is it? Wait don't tell me-" he paused and stared at her a few moments. She was just about to turn around and notice Jesse when he continued. "It is the eyes! You used to wear glasses, didn't you?"

I rolled my eyes at the cheesiness, but she giggled like a schoolgirl. "Yes, I did! I can't believe you noticed!" She exclaimed, and I fake gagged.

"Of course I noticed- Ofelia. A pretty woman like you," he charmed. The pause in his sentence told me he had searched for her name on her nametag. Tapping my fingers impatiently, I watched my phone for the update, I knew I would get when Jesse had succeeded.

"I thought, you were with councilmember Hathaway, tho?" She questioned nervously.

If you didn't know him, you wouldn't see him tense, but I noticed. "No, no, she is engaged to Adrian Ivashkov. I thought everyone knew that" he laughed. It pained him to say out loud, I could hear that.

Ofelia sighed and leaned closer to him over the desk while wriggling in her chair. "Ah yes, the perfect couple. She is so pretty, and he is so handsome. I am excited about seeing their kids one day. Can you imagine? With those genes - man, their kids are going to be gorgeous. It is so unfair: She gets a perfect job, perfect husband, and she is going to have perfect kids!" She whined in jealousy. If only she knew.

Dimitri cleared his throat and reached for her face to brush a few hair strands back. "No offense, but that doesn't interest me right now. I would much rather talk about you," he charmed. Behind her, Jesse gave me a thumbs up, and I got the notification on my phone. I signaled to Dimitri that we got it and heard him starting to back out of the situation awkwardly as we found our way out. A few minutes later, he dumped into the backseat of Jesse's Mercedes Benz.

"Nice job, Casanova," Jesse mocked as he drove off.

I scowled at him, "don't mock him! I have heard you don't have any trouble yourself these days."

A blush crept unto his face along with a smirk. "So, you heard about that, huh?"

"Oh please," I gushed. "Christian is a real gossip."

"Damn, I completely forgot about him. He showed up and wanted to wait for you, so I let him sleep on the couch. I am sorry, I couldn't stop Adrian, I hope you managed to wriggle yourself out of it?" He apologized. I wanted to be mad at him but couldn't. Adrian had basically dragged off with me, but there hadn't been a lot Jesse could do without causing a scene.

I looked at Dimitri in the mirror. Only three people had witnessed yesterday's murder: Dimitri, Adrian and myself. I hadn't decided whatever or not I was going to tell yet. Truth be told, I had expected it to be all over court, but it seemed no one had heard the gunshot. How Adrian got rid of the body, I didn't know, but no one was talking about Adrian Ivashkov being arrested for murder, so I figured he had. "Yeah, I got out. How far is the location?" I asked and glanced at the GPS.

"About 30 kilometers. It is the middle of the woods - they really didn't want any interference."

"More like didn't want all of court to witness two brutal murders. What is the plan?" There was a long silence and I sighed. "Right, I am the girl with the plans. Well, mostly I want to find Rufus and Lissa and get them the hell out of there. Preferably without killing anyone."

"What if they resist?"

"Then we make them come back with us. I suggest- Holy cow, why did you to that?!" I exclaimed as our car came to a sudden stop.

"I didn't, we just can't go any further. The car won't budge."

A shudder went through me as I realized why: "It is an electro field. And you can probably guess who."

"Lissa?" Jesse asked.

I shook my head as the person in question came into view. "Robert," I concluded and unfastened my seatbelt. "Would you mind? We are trying to save lives here!" I exclaimed as I stepped out of the car. Robert shook his head from side to side in twitches.

"Where is my son?!"

I raised both eyebrows. "I don't know, have you tried Sankt Vlads?" For all I knew, Robert didn't know, I knew about Finick.

"My other son!" Or maybe he did.

"Why would I know? You are his father! Have you tried contacting his mother with some child support?" I asked, not knowing when to just shut up as usual.

"Don't mock me! You know where he is!" Robert hissed. Truth be told, I didn't know what Robert was capable of, but I did know that I didn't want to find out.

"I don't. Now if you would excuse me, I want to go save my friends-" I was cut off by an invisible force showing me onto the helmet of the car.

"You are not going anywhere!" He yelled, eyes about to pop out. Dimitri tried to move to help me, but for some reason, he froze. I realized why, as I tried to move myself - I couldn't. "Where is Finnick!" Robert yelled as he got in my face.

I glared at him, deciding the truth was the worst way to go. "I. Don't. Know," I kept denying.

He shook his head manically and took a step back. "I warned him not to get involved with you. I told him. I said: 'Finick, Rose Hathaway is a bad girl! She does horrible things to the people she loves and even worse to her enemies, but he wouldn't listen! You hurt him, didn't you?! You witch! You hurt my son!" He yelled. I felt the heaviness of the spell, suddenly, and felt like I was about to be crushed underneath it.

"Father!" God help me, it was Calvin. Was he in on this too? "Father, let her go," he asked calmly. Maybe not. He moved into my view, and he seemed to be very affected by the situation. I had never seen him so emotional before, but he was trying hard to keep it together.

"I can't! She hurt your brother!" Robert cried.

"Finnick hurt himself when he started this entire plan - you said so yourself: All he was gonna get, was grief. Don't bring that on yourself. Let Rose go," he repeated. I wanted to send him a thankful gaze, but he wasn't even looking my way.

"She needs to pay!" Robert cried.

"She has done nothing. Let her go."

"She will pay!"

Calvin looked pained, and then he did something unexpected: He drew his flashlight and hit Robert in the back of the head. Immediately, I could move again and used the newfound ability to hug him.

"Thank you!" He hugged me back slightly.

"When uncle Vic called, I knew something like this was bound to happen. Finnick was Robert's favorite: The prodigy," he explained bitterly then looked at me concerned and added: "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am fine, thanks to you. We have to get back on the road, but thank you so much! I can't ever repay you for this!" He looked vary for a moment then he grabbed me and kissed me.

"That was payment enough," he whispered against my lips, then pulled away completely as nothing had happened. "Do you guys need help?"

"Yes!" I said at the same time the boys said "No!" I looked at them angrily but had to respect democracy. "Please keep Robert under control and that will be plenty. But Calvin," I touched his arm as he was about to move away, "Thank you! I still owe you one," I promised, then got back in the car. Jesse wasted no time in getting the car back to life and drove around Calvin to get us back on track. The road got worse and worse condition as we got closer until finally, he pulled up at an old cottage. "You think they are in there?" I asked warily. Dimitri shook his head.

"Judging by the landscape I'd say the fight went east. Ready to run?" He barely asked before he took off, Jesse and I hanging after him. He was right. The closer we got the more it looked like a tornado had been through. Finally, we reached them and I looked in horror at the scene. Lissa had Rufus in torture like compulsory state, like she once had Jesse, meanwhile Victor was trying to break through the electro shield she had put up.

"Lissa!" I yelled as I rushed to her, but when she turned and looked at me, that was not Lissa.

"Rose," she answered coldly like I was being inconvenient. "You just had to ruin everything again, didn't you?! Like at the academy, but this time you won't get the credit. Kill him!" She ordered Victor to attack Rufus while she turned her attention on me. Rufus was released from his state, but barely long enough to put up a defense against Victor. Jesse and Dimitri threw themselves into stopping the two men from killing each other, leaving Lissa to me.

"Liss, this isn't you-" I tried, but she interrupted me.

"Yes, it is! You don't know anything! This is the way it has to be, I have to be queen!" She yelled. She looked just as unstable as Finick and Robert had, I thought in horror.

"Says who?" I challenged her, trying to talk sense into her.

"It is the only way. I have to save our world!" She reasoned.

"You aren't saving it! Please, Liss, you must know this!" I cried.

For a brief moment it looked like I had gotten through to her, but then her face darkened again. "You just want Christian to yourself! It is like Tatiana said: All you dhampirs are whores, trying to ruin us moroi! You aren't getting him alright!?" She shrieked.

I flinched, and the worst part was I didn't know if Tatiana really had said that or if someone made her. "I don't want Chrisitan, I never have. Please, Liss, I love you. Please let go and come back to me!" I begged again. She paused and then fell to her knees with a scream. Slowly it turned into loud hysteric sobs mixed with pain-filled screams, and I slowly approached her.

"I... I don't know how. Please Rose, help me, I-" she paused, and I saw and felt the monster return. Knowing I had no choice, I did something, I had discovered myself able to do years back with Avery, but never thought I would use again: I highjacked her. Forcing myself into her head, I forced her brain to shut down, so she fell unconsciously on the ground. The manouvre caused me to fall to my knees in exhaustion, but at least it was over. Behind her, Victor too fell to the ground, as Dimitri knocked him out effectively. Jesse offered his hand to Rufus, who took it gratefully and let him help him off the ground. "Thank you, son," he sighed.

Dimitri came to me and helped me stand. "Are you alright?" He asked. I looked at Lissa, still, a bit shook but nodded. "Yeah, it was a long time coming." He sent me a look but didn't start to lecture me. It wouldn't have helped anyway, I was about to pass out from exhaustion. I felt him taking most of my body weight and helping me back to the car. I guess they loaded the others as well, cause before I knew it, we were back at court and the three contestants were being moved to the infirmary. Jesse gave a recap to the guards who put handcuffs on both Lissa and Victor, so they were chained to their hospital beds. Rufus was the only one able to walk into the infirmary on his own and wasn't put in handcuffs for some reason.

"Rose? We are going to need to speak with you," Hans asked carefully. Did I really look that fragile?

Dimitri looked at me warily, "be careful with her. The fight was hard on her," he warned.

Hans nodded and put his hand on my back, carefully guiding me to an empty office. "What happened out there?" He asked me, taking a small notepad out to write my statement down.

I shook my head at him. "Everything? Robert Duro showed up."

He nodded. "Guardian Mercury brought him in. Duro is in custody, and I think we will be looking into getting him hospitalized. He needs help." That we agreed on.

"He tried to kill me. And not in the paid assassin way," I told Hans who nodded and wrote it down.

"Guardian Mercury told us in his statement. He said he showed in the last second to help you escape." It was a question. He wanted me to confirm Calvin's story, so we didn't have to go over it again.

I nodded to tell him just to use Calvin's statement. "At the scene, we found Lissa, and she was... Torturing Rufus. Victor was trying to stop her, but when we arrived she made him try to kill Rufus instead. I tried to reason with her, but she wouldn't stop. So, I stopped her." It hurt to admit, but that was what I did. I took my best friend down.

"Trough the bond?" Hans asked and I nodded. "Princess Dragomir is still unconscious - Will that change?" He had little knowledge of the bond, as did we, so he was really asking if I was still controlling her.

"I don't know. I think so." I had let go of her mind, but I didn't know what would happen when she woke up. "It isn't her fault. She has been controlled for months, maybe even years. We all have," I told him, trying to defend her.

Hans sighed and clicked his pen. "Adrian Ivashkov admitted to controlling you with compulsion this morning - on orders from the late queen, he said. Do you want to press charges?"

I shook my head. "No. I'll handle Adrian myself."

Hans shot me a look as if to say 'If you kill him, I can't look the other way'.

"I am going to call off the engagement. Then we have to handle our business obligations," I explained.

"Rose..." He sighed, "who is the mastermind?" Truly he was as lost, as I was, but even Hans could see this wasn't adding up.

"I don't know," I admitted. With everything that happened, I wasn't even sure anymore. All I knew was, that it was over, or so I hoped. If it was Finick and they didn't know about him yet, then I still wanted to protect Adrian as much as possible by not leading them in his direction.

Hans definitively folded his hands. "Alright. I am going to need a more detail statement one of these days, but for now I will let you have your peace. Go get some rest, tomorrow is going to be hell for all of us," was his advice. I nodded, but my head felt heavy, so I swayed slightly even as I stood up.

Outside the building, Michela Badica was waiting for me.

"You!" She hissed and showed her fangs.

I hesitated slightly but decided this confrontation was unavoidable. Might as well get it over with. "What can I do for you, lady Badica?" I asked coldly although it felt sarcastic.

She scowled, "you killed Finick! You killed him and then you took out Vasilisa. You stupid whore! You ruined everything!"

I was slightly surprised to hear her admit this much in public, especially as we were getting some stares. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Michela. If you would excuse me," I tried to push past her, but she showed me back, or well she tried. She lacked a great part of upper body strength.

"You won't get away with this! I swear to god, I will make sure you are held responsible!" She yelled.

"For what? Stopping three royals from murdering each other? Saving lives? Making our world a better place?" I asked mockingly, as I sensed our audience was on my side, although no one had interfered yet.

Michela turned red with fury, but she didn't answer. I thought I had won, but then I felt it: The blood under my skin was pumping faster than my heart allowed it, and my airways started to swell. She was controlling the water in my body! I tried to gasp for air, but I couldn't, and I fell to my knees as my heart started to ache. "I learned a thing or two from Duro, you know," Michela finally bit at me with a sadistic smile. 'This is it,' I thought, 'this is how I die. Taken down by a freaking moroi socialite!'

"That is enough!" A voice yelled and interrupted Michela's wicked victory. Daniella Ivashkov stepped up beside us and with a flicker of her wrist, she released me from my torture. I didn't know her element was water, but man was I thankful! "Step away from my daughter-in-law, please," she ordered Michela.

"You think she still is? Haven't you heard: Your son admitted to a whole bunch of crimes against her this morning. Domestic abuse isn't a good foundation for a marriage," Michela snarled and gloated in the horrified gasps from our audience.

Daniella looked completely unfazed. "Nonetheless she is still my future daughter in law, until the official statement. I suggest you step away from her before I do to you what you did to her," she warned Michela as she stared her down.

"I'd like to see you try!" Michela challenged and Daniella answered by simply pointing at her, and I could see Michela's face pale, as she was no doubt experiencing the same thing I had. Daniella let her go quickly tho, and stepped in between us.

"Now back off, before I call security," she ordered. With a hiss, Michela left hastily and Daniella watched her until she was sure she was gone. Turning to me she offered me her hand to help me stand up. "Are you alright?" She asked me, the warm and caring woman was back.

"Yeah, thanks," I muttered and looked around. There was a circle of people staring and taking pictures.

"Come," she whispered and took my elbow. "Let's get you out of sight. It isn't safe for you to be out in the open, and besides: Adrian wants to speak with you." I panicked slightly, having no idea what to say to him yet, but she must have sensed that, as she tried to reassure me: "I'll be there with you. I promise, I won't let him hurt you again, even if he is my son, but you have to at least let him explain."

Seeing as she just saved my life, I figured I owed her one and let her drag me away. The Ivashkov residence was just as I remembered it: Looking like it hadn't been redecorated since Adrian's great grandfather bought it. "He is in Nathan's office," Daniella instructed upon arrival. I had been there only once before when Nathan wanted to see us and discuss donations for one of Daniella's foundations. Surprisingly, I ran into Nathan himself on the way, and he smiled at me with his big lion-like face.

"Rose, good to see you! He is in there: Please listen to him, he is really terribly sorry. I am sure you can work it out," he tried to butter me up.

I gave him a tight smile out of politeness. "Let's see what he has to say first. Good to see you too, Nathan." I patted him on the arm and went inside, knowing the gesture must have been a shock to him.

The door was closed but unlocked, so I let myself in and closed it behind me. Adrian was sitting in his father's chair, spinning around slowly like a bored child. When he saw me though he straightened up. His hair was messy, real messy, but he was wearing a suit with a vest underneath and the tie was neatly knot. "You came," he breathed as if he was surprised to see me.

Slowly, I walked around and sat in one of the armchairs. "Your mother saved my life outside the guardians' headquarters, so I figured I owed it to her," I explained lightly

"When I heard you were gone, I thought-" He didn't finish, but the ending was there: He thought, I had left him.

"No, I had to interfere with that entire battle-to-death thing, you know. I heard you turned yourself in?"

He gave me a weak smile. "I tried to, but they wouldn't have me. Said they had to talk to you first."

"Hans told me. I am not pressing charges," I explained.

He raised a brow with a humorous smile. "No? I thought Lissa was the one with Stockholm syndrome little Dhampir," he joked lightly.

"I know you did it to protect me."

He sobered up a little and nodded. "I did."

"Please tell me everything." I asked and mentally added 'so I know whatever or not to hate you'.

He made a clear gesture with his hands. "Where to start? I came into this thing pretty late," he stated. "Lissa was already on another planet and my aunt had lost it completely. It took me a while to figure out it wasn't their plan. Then I meet Frederick, who turned out to be Finick. I bought the entire royal act, I am afraid. Finick had Lissa in the palm of his hand from the moment I meet him, and he used her influence and power to collect favors from other powerful people. People like Sonya Karp and Micheal Tanner. He had so much power over them all, I tried not to get involved, but then he got interested in you, and I knew I had to do something, so I struck up a deal," he paused and gave me time to come with input, but I urged him to finish. "I would keep you busy and away from court, and he would leave us alone. At least that was the plan, to begin with, but he got greedy. He wanted you to do his bidding. I wouldn't do that to you, so I had to come up with something else. I promise; I have only compelled you to keep you safe, nothing else," he vowed sincerely.

"How long?" I asked him, wanting to know how many of my emotions I could trust.

"Four months," he admitted shamefully. That was a lot longer than I had expected. I felt so betrayed.

"The engagement?" I asked him, and he looked away.

"That was to convince him I had you under my spell. That is why I pulled the big ring from the bolt," he explained. That made sense, he wanted to flash it, so he was sure Finick would know.

"When I was constantly being attacked, didn't it once occur to you, that he would kill me anyway?" I asked him, truly fascinated by his naivety.

"Finick never tried to have you assassinated. Lissa did, and Tatiana. Tatiana had all her political enemies on a hit list - after Finick started talking to her, you made the list. Lissa was being compelled by both Finick and Sonya. I think it tipped her over the edge. She started developing an entirely new personality that would appear and disappear faster than lightening. When it was in control, she would sometimes try to kill you, convinced her life would be easier without you holding her back and standing in her way," he explained.

"And Ralp Sarcozy?" I wanted to know.

"Ralp was a distraction, I think. Finick wanted you busy until Lissa was elected. It worked."

I shrugged, it really didn't. "I had a theory; That Sankt Vladimirs was the mother of all this misery," I explained, no, asked.

Adrian took long deep calm breaths and shook his head. "Not a bad theory, but no. Finick went to Sankt Laurent in California."

"And Calvin Mercury?"

"I have no idea if he was involved."

I sighed. "Anything else you want to confess?"

He regarded me closely then shifted a little in his chair. "I hired three teams of assassins to attack you here at court, although they were instructed not to kill you. I wanted to scare you away from here. I hoped that eventually, you would give up and come with me back to Europe. I realize my plan backfired," he admitted, seeming more bitter that he failed than that he had done it in the first place.

I nodded. It sure did. "So what now?" I asked him, hoping he had an answer.

He sighed again and leaned in over the table. "Well. First let me just say that I love you, and I want to be with you-"

"Adrian-" he held up a finger to stop me.

"However, I see that with what I have done, you probably won't be able to trust me again. Therefore, I'll start by calling off the engagement. It was based on fraud anyway," he stated. I blinked surprised. He was being very mature and realistic about this.

"Well, I appreciate that. I want to break up as well, completely."

He looked disappointed but gave me a nod. "Understandable. How about work-relations?"

"On the condition that it is strictly work - I would like to keep you in your current position. I'll understand if you need some time off first."

He nodded. "I'd like that as well. When the election is over and everything is settled, I'll take a few weeks off. I guess there isn't much else to discuss?"

I hesitated but felt like I had to tell him: "I am having Lissa admitted to a mental institution along with Robert Duro. As far as I am notified, you aren't in the officials' light, but I want you to know, that I will do everything I can, not to have you end up there with them. I think, for now, that might include pretending to be together. We can call off the engagement publicly, but we can't afford a scandal right now. That is why I am not pressing charges," I clarified. I didn't want Adrian to get hurt from this. He had tried to protect me, I could at least return the favor.

"I appreciate that. Especially considering what I did: I am really sorry, Rose."

"I know, me too."

"Well if that is all, then I won't keep you. Do I get a hug?"

"You can get a kiss."

I stood up and meet him around the table, for the last time letting my lips meet his. Although I was relieved, this was also bittersweet. I did love him, but sometimes love wasn't enough. This was one of those times. "Will I be seeing you with Belikov now? I understand he is still in your life," he asked, and although he tried to keep it neutral, I felt a bit attacked.

"No. I am not jumping into another relationship. Adrian, this isn't because of Dimitri," I made it clear to him, he couldn't blame this on someone else.

Surprisingly, he agreed. "I know. We were over anyway. In fact, we were never really together," he admitted bitterly.

I wanted to leave, but I hesitated again. I owed him the truth, after all of our time together. "We were together, Adrian. For almost two years. When you proposed, I felt it in my heart, that it was the right thing. In a perfect world it still would be, but the way things played out, I just don't see us as a possibility anymore. I truly am sorry, don't think this isn't causing me pain too." He had to know this was no easy decision for me.

He studied me for a few moments then nodded. "I thought, I saw a little gold in there once in a while, and now I see in your aura the truth of your words. I love you, little Dhampir, I think part of me always will, but you are right; we must move on. We were never meant for each other, although for a while it certainly felt that way. Don't be sad - I will try not to." At the end of his speech, I was crying, real heavy tears.

"I will miss you."

"I will be right there with you little dhampir, that is the beauty of this arrangement."

I shook my head angrily. "Not like this. You won't be kissing me after a hard day, or drinking wine with me on a balcony in London. We won't have sex on the helmet of some ambassador's car in Madrid or make out in the back of a fancy restaurant. I will miss that, but I know I have to."

He smiled bittersweetly and leaned down to kiss me again. "You can change your mind in a few years if you need to, but for now we are doing the right thing. I truly believe that." He promised and then reluctantly let me go. I left just as reluctantly, looking back at him one last time before walking out the door.

On my way out, I ran into Daniella again, who looked at me curiously. "Everything alright?"

I nodded. "We broke up, but we are still friends. I won't hold any of this against you or the Ivashkovs, Daniella. I still value our friendship," I told her sincerely.

She smiled at me a little sad and touched my cheek. "I have come to think of you as a daughter, Rose. I truly hope you will find happiness in life," she told me kindly. I took her hand and held it in mine.

"Thank you, for all of your help and kindness. This isn't goodbye: It is just a new beginning," I promised, and she nodded with a smile, then let me go.

I meet Dimitri outside. "You know, you really suck at your job!" I complained to him.

He raised a brow at me. "I am sorry? I found you, didn't I? And I see you are alive and unharmed," he smirked arrogantly.

"I was almost killed by Michela Badica outside the headquarters half an hour ago," I informed him matter-of-factly, but he didn't seem faced.

"And yet here you are unharmed."

I glared at him and decided he wasn't worthy of more of my time. Instead, I wanted to follow Hans' advice and get some sleep, except I didn't know where home was: Lissa's guestroom was out of the question, her house was still on lockdown. My father's house reminded me of too much of the time I had spent there with Adrian. Jesse's apartment was once again occupied by a loving couple. Christian's house was probably occupied by the owner himself, and I imagined not in a good mood, and lastly, Rufus' house didn't seem like home to me anymore. Mostly I wanted to get a hotel room, but options were limited here at court, and I doubted I was allowed to leave anytime soon. I looked back at Dimitri again, "I don't know where to go," I confessed. He looked torn then made a small throw of his head for me to follow him. He took me to the gym, locked us in and helped me upstairs. I didn't know what was up there, but I imagined an office space. I was wrong: It was storage for old gear, and at the end of the room, there was a door, to which Dimitri had a key. He unlocked it and held it open for me: It was a small apartment, kinda. There was an old mattress, probably from the gym, but there were clean sheets on it and a lamp on the floor next to it. A couch on the other side, and a table made of old wooden boards. What sold the thing was the view: You could see most of court from here. I hadn't realized the gym was placed that high until now.

"Will it do?" He asked nervously and scratched his neck. I nodded and fell onto the mattress.

"It is perfect. Let's get some sleep comrade," I groaned into the pillow. The last thing I felt was the mattress dip next to me, and then I was out.

* * *

I woke up to Dimitri grumping angrily on the phone. "Well fix it! Do I need to remind you of who my charge is?" He hissed, and then said something in Russian that sounded like a threat. When he noticed, I was awake, he grumbled something more and hung up.

"Everything alright?" I asked, concerned at what had caused his bad mood.

He shook his head and sat at the end of the bed. "Michela Badica was arrested this morning. Someone was busted in the middle of cutting the brakes on your car, and he admitted it was her, who had ordered him to do so. Turns out she really wants you dead. She was in custody for approximately four hours, but then something went wrong, and now they don't know where she is," he explained patiently. He sounded very sorry like it was all his fault.

"What, so she is walking free now? Who the hell released her?" I exclaimed, already feeling paranoid.

"No one. The cameras went out, the guardians on guard distracted, and then she was just gone. Someone must have broken her out," he explained.

I snorted bitterly. "Yeah, someone. I have a few qualified guesses. Is Duro still in custody?"

He nodded. "Vasilisa too, as well as Dashkov and Ralf Sarcozy. Now that the election is over, both Vasilisa's and Victor's immunity are gone. They can be held responsible for their crimes."

"The election is over?!" But it couldn't be? Surely there was still a vote to get to.

"That is the other thing: Might be good news. Since Rufus was the only one still conscious and walking, when we brought them in, he wins. Rufus Tarus is king now." I was stunned. Rufus was king? King Rufus? It felt weird.

"I need to speak to Hans, don't I?" I guessed. I had a feeling Hans would want to yell at me for interfering with the fight.

Dimitri nodded. "Yes, he asked that you come to see him as soon as possible, but first you have been summoned by the king." I blinked. The king? Oh right, he meant Rufus! Of course, Rufus would want to see me.

"Sure, where is he?" I doubted he was still to find in his old office, after his recent upgrade.

Dimitri gave me a small smile. "In the throne room, preparing his coronation, I bet."

I swallowed and jumped out of bed. "Well, his majesty is going to have to wait until I have showered. I feel disgusting," I noted, and although Dimitri didn't say anything, it was obvious he agreed.

* * *

As Dimitri had foreseen, Rufus was in the middle of planning his big moment. I smiled to myself as I heard him talk to the staff about wanting 'more'.

"Your majesty!" I yelled jokingly. "You summoned me?" I asked with a smile as I approached him.

Rufus laughed and opened his arms to me. "Yes, my trusted ally: The source of my victory. I must ask you: would you go with green or red?" He asked and gestured to the two different carpets someone had laid out.

"Red, always. Was that all?"

"No, no, of course not. Please, come with me. We have much to discuss." He took a hold of my shoulder and steered me into one of the more private rooms.

"You know, when I asked for your help I didn't mean to fix the final challenge," he only half-joked as the door was closed behind us. Silent guardians flanked the walls, but he was their King now, and so they were loyal to him.

"My dear, I have been thinking. This king position, it isn't much without a queen - speaking in the chess metaphor. I need a strong queen, to make the moves I can't."

"I am sure your wife is excited," I noted dryly, not up for this discussion and quiet tired of chess.

"I am not talking about her - I want you. Rose, I want you to be my queen," he told me and seemed to be quiet sincere, but I took the opportunity to make a joke:

"As much as I am flattered, Rufus, I don't feel that way about you," I smirked, knowing it wasn't meant to be romantic.

He scoffed. "No, not like that! Strictly business - I want you to be my co-regent," he announced.

"Really?" I asked and blinked twice to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

He nodded seriously. "You were right about this world needing an update. This election is the last, but baby-steps, always. So, I want to share the power with you. When the time comes, and I want to retire, we will have a democratic election, and you will be the one to make sure that it is carried out properly. What do you say?" He asked with a grand gesture. And a grand gesture it was, indeed. I had feared for, what kind of leader Rufus would become. In the last few years, he had been fumbling, and before that, he had been a stuck up conservative. But this? This was brilliance.

"I say thank you. I accept your proposal."

"Great, then we have much to do and discuss: First off, you aren't getting a crown straight away. We will introduce you as personal adviser then promote you to queen later when they have gotten used to it," he explained as if the entire world was at our feet. In a way, I suppose it was.

"I should go talk to Hans. I am sure he is going to be thrilled about this," I noted.

"I already talked to Croft. He wants to see you," Rufus commented smugly.

"Yeah, so I heard," I grumbled and left him to his self-admiration.

Hans was about as thrilled as you would imagine. "Why do you have to be the torn in my eye every single day?" He grumbled angrily.

"Is that a way to address your new queen?" I asked him mockingly, putting my legs over the edge of the chair.

"You aren't queen yet," he pointed out. "I am appointing you two personal guardians for now, if you leave court grounds - even for a burger - you need four. When you are crowned you'll have four at all times and six when leaving." He told me pointedly, and I shrugged.

"We both know, I am not going to do that. I'll make you a deal: I'll have one, and then maybe two when I am crowned, but never more."

"No," he stated, leaving no room for discussion.

I raised both brows, "no?"

"No. I am head guardian, this isn't a negotiation. However, I'll do you a favor: I'll count you in as your own guardian. You still need two: I suggest you pick someone, you like to spend time with for the day-shift, then I will choose someone for the night-shift. During office hours, I'll appoint you one extra who doesn't go home with you." That seemed like a fair deal.

"Alright, I can do that. Who can I choose?"

He shrugged. "You are going to be the queen. Pick anyone you like, but be sure they are qualified, please?" I smirked at him. I could do that.

"Put in a request for guardian Castile, I'd like to have him on the team. I trust you to find someone with a great resumé for the other position. As for my main guard: I'll keep you posted," I told him and stood up from my seat.

"Off to find lover boy?" He guessed. I didn't know how much Hans knew, but if Adrian knew of Dimitri, so did the rest of the court probably.

"Maybe," I told him poping my lips and strolled off. Dimitri was still dutifully waiting outside. I didn't know if he had heard - if he did, he wasn't showing it. Deciding it was a personal conversation, I went home to my father's house and sat us down in the living room. His tall figure looked surprisingly graceful on the sofa.

"Did you hear Hans?" He shook his head.

"No?"

I smirked a little. I knew he hadn't heard Rufus either, so this was going to be a surprise for him. I rarely got to surprise him. "Rufus is promoting me to the personal adviser for the king. He plans on making me co-regent," I told him.

He raised a brow. "Why?"

"Because times change and he knows that. I am going to need a personal guard - three, actually."

"I am sure guardian Croft is going to find you someone capable," was his short answer, and I frowned. Did he not want to be my guardian?

"Well, see, the thing is: I told Hans, I'd find someone myself. If you'd like it, the position is open..." I trailed off, he was sure to get the message, I hoped.

His mask didn't drop. "Well, Roza, that certainly is quite an offer, but as you know, it isn't the first of that kind that I have gotten. My answer is the same: I am not a toy."

I frowned more deeply. Where was this coming from? "I didn't say you were. It is just that with the long shifts and the schedule we would rarely see each other otherwise... Unless you don't want to see each other?" I asked. Maybe that was the problem: Perhaps, he didn't want me after all?

"Well, that depends on how we would be seeing each other," he concluded coldly.

I was stunned. It took me a few seconds to catch my jaw. "Oh for heaven's sake, Dimitri, that is what I am trying to say! I want you to be my stupid boyfriend. If you don't want to, that is fine, but just say so!"

It was quiet for a few moments after my outburst then a grin crept onto his face. "Boyfriend? As in: People can know?"

I rolled my eyes. "That is kind of the idea with titles.!

He shook his head at me, stood up from his seat to kneel in front of me, and grabbed my face in his hands to kiss me. "Then yes Roza, I'd like to be your boyfriend, but I still won't be your guardian," he told me.

I blinked at him. "I am sorry, what? Why?"

He shrugged carelessly, "can't leave Christian. Poor guy is a mess."

The rare joke earned him a giggle. He was right tho: As usual, Christian was the one who had paid the most. Lissa was all he had left, and she was going to a mental institution. Not to mention: What would happen to their unborn child? There was still a lot left to be dealt with, and unfortunately, not everyone had made it out as well as I had. "That you are right about. Guess someone else will have to fill in as the queen's personal guardian then - I hope it is someone hot," I mocked him, making big eyes at my fake anticipation.

He gave me one of those rare half-smiles and reached out to brush some hair behind my ear. "I will personally make sure it is a middle-aged woman with tons of experience. Maybe your mother would like the opportunity?" I made a face. We were having such a nice time why did he have to bring up her?

"Forget it. I need to tend to all my allies and see how they made it out, then figure out what I can do for Lissa. Hopefully, they aren't considering Tarasov." I wasn't happy with my best friend, but she didn't deserve to go to a maximum-security prison.

Dimitri nodded and followed behind me, still in his obedient role as my guardian. Perhaps that was a good thing cause it was Damian waiting outside.

"Rose," he started, but I cut him off swiftly.

"You are here for the ring," I concluded, and he nodded with an awkward smile, obviously feeling sheepish. I stepped aside, so he could come in and then sat us in the dining room where the exchanged had happened once before not so long ago.

"I need you to sign here and here," he instructed, pulling formulas from his briefcase. It was a receipt that I had returned the ring. I lifted the heavy rock off my finger and felt relieved to have it finally gone. It was stressing running around with a diamond wroth a small country.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," I told him in all honesty, and he shrugged.

"Want to get that baby locked up safely as soon as possible. How are you?" He asked, seeming sincere.

"I am fine, it was very mutual. We are still friends, all of us are," I told him, letting him know there was no bad blood between any of us.

"So I haven't lost you as a client?" He joked, and I laughed with him.

"Are you kidding me? I need you now more than ever!"

Our light-hearted exchange was cut off by my phone ringing. "Just a sec," I told Damian, as I answered it. "Hello?"

"Rose Hathaway?" A deep voice asked, and I froze. It sounded modified, and that was never a good sign. I had gotten quite a few death-threats that way.

"This is she," I replied, trying to sound fearless.

"I believe you owe me a favor now, your majesty. Expect me to collect," the voice said.

"I haven't asked for a favor," I replied, suddenly bored with this prank call.

"But I did you one. Hear the bells ringing? Go see for yourself: I left you a wedding gift. Too bad you aren't getting married, for it is not the kind that cannot be returned." He hung up with that.

I stared at my phone for a moment, then turned on my heel and ran off towards the church. The bells started ringing, as I was halfway there, and a few seconds later, I got a look at the scene. It seemed no one else had noticed before I got there, but they certainly saw now. And Michela Badica was no more.

 **Bam. There will be one chapter to give you a glimpse of how it all turned out, and then it is over. This story is officially done after that.**


End file.
